Members of the House of Representatives yesterday vowed to
ensure considerate reduction in the powers arrogated to the office of Petroleum
Minister.
This is coming just as the House yesterday commenced comprehensive debate on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) with assurances that critical issues around the nation's petroleum sector must be resolved.
During debate on the Bill, members also expressed concerns over what they called enormous influence being wielded by the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The debate began on the general principles of the Petroleum Industry Bill ( PIB) seeking to provide a legal, fiscal and regulatory framework for the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
Leading the debate, House Majority Leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande- Adeola (PDP- Oyo) said the PIB, when passed into law, would harmonize all existing laws in the sector.
She said in order to regulate, coordinate and manage the operations of the industry, the PIB will engender effectiveness.
But Hon Aisha Modibbo (PDP- Adamawa) in her contribution said that the current Bill vested so much powers in the Minister of Petroleum.
Modibbo said the NNPC should not be left in the hands of one person to take decision as the GMD.
Also, Abike Dabiri- Erewa ( ACN- Lagos) said the House would not pass the Bill with its present contents as presented to National Assembly by the Presidency.
According to her, the Bill is also too weak on issue of transparency and vested too much powers in the Mminister of Petroleum.
Similarly, Abubakar Momoh ( ACN-Edo) said when passed into law, there was need to monitor the implementation of the Act.
Momoh said the bill as it were is more or less a Bill for the Minister of Petroleum.
He, however, commended the inclusion of the petroleum host community fund in the bill, saying it would go a long way to assist the communities.
Friday Itulah ( PDP-Edo) urged that ownership of oil should be vested in the host communities who should in turn pay taxes to the federal government.
Before further debate on the Bill was postponed till this morning, Akande-Adeola had urged her colleagues that passage of the Bill would be a landmark achievement for the National Assembly.
She reminded them of how the bill was first introduced to the sixth National Assembly in 2010 but was not passed into law.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has appointed Stanbic IBTC, a local unit of South Africa's Standard Bank, as stockbroker for its debt, in a move aimed at expanding participation in government bond issues to retail investors on the bourse, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said yesterday.
Nigeria, which is Africa's second-biggest economy, issues tens of billions of Naira in sovereign bonds each month to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.
"We are expanding into the retail market ... for the bonds and we need a reputable stock broking firm to assist in secondary marketing," one official at the Debt Management Office (DMO) told Reuters.
Stanbic IBTC would help facilitate the listing of bonds as soon as they are issued, provide competitive pricing and make a market for retail clients to get involved, he said.
Although they are listed, Nigeria's bonds are currently traded by local banks over the counter and mainly sold to pension funds and foreign portfolio investors. Adding retail clients would help boost liquidity, the DMO official said.
The inclusion of Nigeria's local debt in the JP Morgan Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) and a proposal by Barclays last week to list them in its index have attracted a flurry of offshore and local interest in the local debt market.
The DMO said last month Nigeria plans to raise between N160 billion ($1 billion) and N240 billion via sovereign bonds ranging between 5 and 10 years in the fourth quarter of the year.
This is coming just as the House yesterday commenced comprehensive debate on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) with assurances that critical issues around the nation's petroleum sector must be resolved.
During debate on the Bill, members also expressed concerns over what they called enormous influence being wielded by the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The debate began on the general principles of the Petroleum Industry Bill ( PIB) seeking to provide a legal, fiscal and regulatory framework for the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
Leading the debate, House Majority Leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande- Adeola (PDP- Oyo) said the PIB, when passed into law, would harmonize all existing laws in the sector.
She said in order to regulate, coordinate and manage the operations of the industry, the PIB will engender effectiveness.
But Hon Aisha Modibbo (PDP- Adamawa) in her contribution said that the current Bill vested so much powers in the Minister of Petroleum.
Modibbo said the NNPC should not be left in the hands of one person to take decision as the GMD.
Also, Abike Dabiri- Erewa ( ACN- Lagos) said the House would not pass the Bill with its present contents as presented to National Assembly by the Presidency.
According to her, the Bill is also too weak on issue of transparency and vested too much powers in the Mminister of Petroleum.
Similarly, Abubakar Momoh ( ACN-Edo) said when passed into law, there was need to monitor the implementation of the Act.
Momoh said the bill as it were is more or less a Bill for the Minister of Petroleum.
He, however, commended the inclusion of the petroleum host community fund in the bill, saying it would go a long way to assist the communities.
Friday Itulah ( PDP-Edo) urged that ownership of oil should be vested in the host communities who should in turn pay taxes to the federal government.
Before further debate on the Bill was postponed till this morning, Akande-Adeola had urged her colleagues that passage of the Bill would be a landmark achievement for the National Assembly.
She reminded them of how the bill was first introduced to the sixth National Assembly in 2010 but was not passed into law.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has appointed Stanbic IBTC, a local unit of South Africa's Standard Bank, as stockbroker for its debt, in a move aimed at expanding participation in government bond issues to retail investors on the bourse, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said yesterday.
Nigeria, which is Africa's second-biggest economy, issues tens of billions of Naira in sovereign bonds each month to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.
"We are expanding into the retail market ... for the bonds and we need a reputable stock broking firm to assist in secondary marketing," one official at the Debt Management Office (DMO) told Reuters.
Stanbic IBTC would help facilitate the listing of bonds as soon as they are issued, provide competitive pricing and make a market for retail clients to get involved, he said.
Although they are listed, Nigeria's bonds are currently traded by local banks over the counter and mainly sold to pension funds and foreign portfolio investors. Adding retail clients would help boost liquidity, the DMO official said.
The inclusion of Nigeria's local debt in the JP Morgan Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) and a proposal by Barclays last week to list them in its index have attracted a flurry of offshore and local interest in the local debt market.
The DMO said last month Nigeria plans to raise between N160 billion ($1 billion) and N240 billion via sovereign bonds ranging between 5 and 10 years in the fourth quarter of the year.
The Compass
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