As ministerial nominee urges Senate to revisit PIB
No ministerial nominee confirmed yet —Lawan
Says screened nominees can still be disqualified
Explains why some nominees are asked to ‘take a bow and go’

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA— WORRIED by the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, that has been lingering for 17 years since its introduction, the Senate said, yesterday, that the only way forward for it to be passed and assented to by the president was for the executive and the legislature to form a synergy on the bill.

Nigerian Senate

Senate President,  Ahmad Lawan, stated this during the screening of ministerial nominees in Abuja, yesterday, when a ministerial nominee and Chairman, Committee on Petroleum(Upstream) in the 8th Senate, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, from Ondo State, appeared before senators at the hallowed chamber for screening.

Lawan, who was responding to Alasoadura’s request that the 9th Senate should ensure the passage of the PIB, stressed that what was required to succeed in the  PIB was for the executive and legislature to come together and fashion out the best approach for it to see the light of day.

He lamented the long  stay of the bill which, according to him, does not augur well for the oil and gas sector in the country.

The Senate president noted that several efforts had been made on the bill in the past at various individual levels, hence the need  for both arms of government to work together to ensure the bill was passed into law and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said:  “PIGB came to the National Assembly in the Sixth Assembly. We ended up with so many versions of the bill and didn’t even know which was which. It was a struggle to find the genuine bill from the executive arm of government at that time.

“In the Seventh Senate, it came and was not concluded by the National Assembly. In the Eighth Senate, the National Assembly took the initiative to split the bill into four. And we passed the PIGB and there were some issues.

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‘’In this narration, it is clear that despite efforts by the executive in the first instance in the Sixth and Seventh Senate, a solo sort of effort. And in the Eighth Senate, there was a solo effort by the National Assembly and all failed.

“The option we have today is for the executive and the legislature to come together and look at how to go about this business of the PIGB, because since we tried individually and failed, I think the time has come for us to sit together, work out either one Petroleum Industry Bill or separate bills.

Ministerial nominee urges Senate to revisit PIB

Speaking earlier, Alasoadura, a ministerial nominee who called on the 9th Senate to revisit the PIGB for the good of the country, said  revisiting the bill and its eventual passage would result in the earning of more funds from the nation’s oil resources.

Alasoadura also told his colleagues that there was need for the current Senate to revisit the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Bill, which had gone into second reading in the 8th Senate, adding that its passage would consolidate Nigeria’s quest to diversify to clean energy.

He said:  “I will plead with Mr President and my distinguished colleagues on the PIGB, which had been passed but has not been assented to by Mr President. Please, revisit this bill for the good of Nigeria.

“It is very important for Nigeria to move forward and earn more from the national resource of crude oil God has given to us. There is another bill and we did public hearing on it, the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency Bill.”

In his remarks, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia South), urged Alasoadura to try and convince the executive to sign the PIGB when he eventually emerges as a minister.

On his part, Senate Majority Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC, Kebbi North), described Alasoadura as one who had passion for the PIBG and worked hard to ensure its passage, but urged him to try and revive the bill as well as submit it as an executive bill.

No ministerial nominee confirmed yet —Lawan

Meanwhile, Senate president Lawan, said yesterday that no ministerial nominee had yet been confirmed, despite their screening.

He also said it was the tradition of the legislature to ask former lawmakers to take a bow and go during screening.

Lawan was concurring with Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central), who explained the reason lawmakers/ex-lawmakers given executive appointments were asked to take a bow and go.

“We are not covering anyone by so doing. We are still going to scrutinise the submissions by those nominees. And if there is any submission that disqualifies a nominee, the fact that the nominee passed through the National Assembly does not protect that nominee from being disqualified,” he said.