Following the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), Nigerians have been urged to support the 8th legislature under the chairmanship of the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki in its exemplary performance in pursuit of peace in the Niger- Delta region of the country.
In a statement issued by the chairman and secretary of the Forum of Former Members of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Layi Ayinde and Hon. Isiaka Mogaji respectively, the body noted that the passage of the PIGB will take care of the governance aspect of the PIB, stressing that, it was a high impact legislation that would calm frayed nerves, develop the region and block leakages.
The ex-lawmakers noted that the Bill had gone through five (5) Legislative sessions of the National Assembly commencing from the 4th Assembly which was inaugurated in 1999 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, spanning 17 years of consideration in the parliament.
They also applauded the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakub Dogara and all members of the National Assembly for keeping faith with the Nigeria Project.
It noted that with the passage of the Bill and if given the assent by Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari, the Petroleum sector will not only provide conducive business environment for petroleum operations, but also, ensure better accountability of revenue derived from oil.
The statement further observed with delight that if the Bill scales the hurdle of president’s assent, it would restructure the Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation, Department for Petroleum Resources and also create new agencies with more responsibilities and opportunities for employment.
The former lawmakers, however urged President Buhari to give his assent the bill, without further delay, noting that, the inherent advantages derivable from the Legislation are numerous
More significantly however, the statement called on the legislators not to rest on their oars until the other sections of the bill is diligently perused and passed, to enable the region and our country benefit maximally from our God-endowed resource
