ROWDY SESSION: House of Representatives in a rowdy session over hike in fuel price, at the National Assembly, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.
By Emem Idio – Yenagoa
IJAW youths under the umbrella of Ijaw Youths Council ,IYC, Worldwide have commended the National Assembly for passing the Petroleum Industrial Bill (PIB), this is just as they rued the ceding of only three percent equity shareholding to the oil and gas producing communities.
IYC in a statement signed by its President, Peter Timothy Igbifa, expressed excitement that after many years of being in limbo, the bill had seen the light of the day.
Igbifa appreciated the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, for all his contributions and the efforts of his ministry to ensure the passage of the bill.
The IYC president, however, rued a provision of the passed bill that allocated only three per cent profit from oil companies to host communities.
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He said: “This is grossly inadequate. Prior to the passage, many stakeholders appealed to the National Assembly to allocate five per cent profit to the host communities.
“We even considered the five per cent poor. But reducing it to three per cent is unimaginable and unacceptable. Communities, who own these resources and suffer the devastation of oil exploration and exploitation deserve more than three per cent.”
Igbifa called on the National Assembly members to review the profit upward to five per cent before presenting the passed bill to the President for his assent.
He further appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to insist on five per cent profit to host communities before signing the bill into law.
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