By Victor AHIUMA-YOUNG
ORGANISED labour has advised the 7thNational Assembly to be guided by national interest when considering the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, and void all contract confidentiality clauses for information on upstream, downstream, and midstream taxes, royalties, fees , bonus Payments, contractual obligations, budgets, projects and so on.

Under the aegis of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, said to maximize returns, the PIB must make express provision that will ensure that government allocates oil /gas licences through open and competitive processes to well-qualified companies.

In a piece by the Rivers State Chairman of TUC, Comrade Hyginus Chika Onuegbu, who is also the former Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, he lamented that ithe past, contracting and licensing had suffered from deep abuses of secrecy and discretion, saying irregularities marred all major bid rounds held in the 2000s, bringing about lawsuits, indictments, sackings, cancelled or revoked awards, and legislative probes.

He said “The process for awarding lifting licenses and other licenses in the Midstream and downstream sectors should be as open and transparent as that of the upstream. Nothing should be left to discretion and nothing should be done in secret.

The PIB should insist on strict rules of accountability and financial reporting in the oil and gas industry; and these must be observed strictly by all parties. The PIB should also include sanctions for any non observance of these rules including punitive fines and prison sentences for the Chief Executive Officers and Board members of the defaulting organisations.

It is important that the annual audit of the National Oil Company and all the agencies created by the PIB are prepared and disclosed in accordance with high quality international standards by independent, competent, experienced and qualified auditors as presently done by other national companies like Pemex, KazMunayGas, and Statoil.

In addition such audited financial report of the National Oil Company and these agencies should be published in their website.”

Comrade Onuegbu, said the existing laws especially the Petroleum Act left so much to the discretion of the Minister and the regulatory agencies, saying “the PIB must ensure that nothing is left to discretion, as discretion encourages abuse and corruption.”

“The Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil Company should be appointed /removed from office just like the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The present arrangement where the GMD of the NNPC can be appointed or removed from office via radio announcement should be discontinued in the PIB. In addition, the present arrangement where the board of the National Oil company is chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources should similarly be discontinued as it essentially subjects the operations of the National Oil company to the murky waters of the Nigerian politics and this is not proper if the national oil company will run as a profitable and transparent company.”

Role of trade unions

Continuing, the Rivers State TUC Chairman argued that “Trade unions have a crucial role to play if the final version of the PIB that will be passed into law will achieve the original objectives of the Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC).

The Labour Unions especially PENGASSAN and NUPENG whose members work in the Nigerian oil and gas industry should undertake the following: The labour unions should as a matter of urgency request the National Assembly through the office of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make public in the websites of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the authentic version of the Petroleum Industry Bill to enable Nigerians rebuild confidence in the PIB legislative process and encourage Nigerians participate in the PIB law making process.

Trade Unions must make adequate arrangements to give proper publicity to the provisions of the PIB and developments in the National Assembly regarding the PIB. They are encouraged to summarise the key provisions of the PIB in a bulletin for easy guidance of their members and the general public.

The Trade Unions have a sacred duty to ensure that the Petroleum Industry Bill is not hijacked by any persons or groups to the detriment of the Country. The Trade Unions must monitor the PIB through all the stages of the legislative processes to ensure that key provisions of the PIB that will guarantee transparency in the Nigeria oil and Gas industry are not removed or watered down along the way.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, PENGASSAN and NUPENG are advised to establish PIB monitoring committees. These committees when formed should ensure that they work in close partnership with each other and other friendly stakeholders including Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NE
CA and Civil Society Groups.”