Rt. Hon. Mungonu assures the passage of PIB, wants NDDC scrapped
The Chief Whip of the House of Representatives and Chairman ad hoc Committee on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Rt. Honourable Mohammed Tahir Mungonu has assured that the PIB will be passed before the end of April this year.
Speaking with our Correspondent in Abuja, Monday, the lawmaker noted that thee PIB has suffered a protracted history of adjournment and nonpassage since the sixth assembly.
The member, who is representing Mungonu-Marte-Ngalama said that the Ninth Assembly is committed to the passage of the PIB before the end of April this year, adding that this commitment was born out of the need to maximize our potential in the Oil and gas industry and exploit the country’s reserves of both crude and candescents. To the tune of about 27 billion barrel of crude and candescent is laying fallow and unexploited.
“With a view of taking the only window of opportunity that we have, which is about 30 years before the world moves away from hydrocarbon to renewables. So that whatever resources we are able to generate through that window, we diversify our economy and deploy it to the much needed infrastructural development.
“It was against this backdrop that the National Assembly is committed to the passage of the PIB and we assure Nigerians that this time around the Bill is going to see light of the day.
“This is because it is an executive bill, and before the executive brought the bill, there was a wide range of consultations among various stakeholders in the industry and it has also been subjected to public hearing.
“Right now we are consulting various stakeholders and we plan to visit the oil producing communities to hear their own side of the story so that at the end of the day, the bill that is going to be passed will not only make the oil and gas industry in Nigeria competitive but also bring about a governance structure that is of best international practice”, Hon. Mungonu stated.
He also assured that the bill is going to be a replica of the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians, as it will make the oil and gas industry transparent, competitive and also bring about the much needed revenue for the purpose of diversifying our economy away from oil and gas to agriculture.
“With regards to the Niger Delta Community, the agitation for the control of their resources will also be taken care of in this PIB because some amount of money will be dedicated for the purpose of taking care of host communities.
“Five (5) percent of the operative cost of the oil companies will be directly deployed for the development of the host communities and it is going to be managed by them. There will be a law on how much they are going to spend on investment, recurrent expenditure, and capital expenditure of the communities.
“This will go a long way in tampering the nerves of our brothers and sisters in the Niger Delta areas who are producing the oil. We have come to notice that the 13 percent derivation is not impacting positively on the aspiration of the community the way we wanted.
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Amnesty Program were created to alleviate the suffering of the people of the Niger Delta. That is why there’s this provision for Host Community Fund of five (5) percent of the operative cost of these oil companies so that it can be deployed directly to the development of this host communities, to be managed by the trustees that are appointed by them.
Commentng on whether the NDDC should be scrapped, the lawmaker said that he supports the aborogation of the NDDC because it is not impacting positively on the lives of the people of the Niger Delta.
“It has become an conduit pipe for oiling the political machineries of the politicians, because of this, I think it is better this commission is aborogated and then monies meant for the development of the people in the Niger Delta be deployed directly to them through the Host Community Fund, that is going to be created by this law so that they will directly administer these funds for their own needs and aspirations”, he assured.
Speaking on the nomination of the service chiefs, Hon. Mungonu said that their nomination is within the descretion of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“In his wisdom, he decided to nominate them to be ambassadors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Some information that is available to him, regarding their capacity and performance that is available to Mr. President cannot be available to all Nigerians. If he thinks that they have performed well and also good for him to reward them after their retirement with an ambassadorial appointment, it’s okay.
On Security, he mentioned that it is a primary responsibility of any country.
He urged elite to act on the side of caution in order not to exploit the fault line, adding that the corporate existence of this country should not be compromised.
He added that there is need for a state police. “I whole heatedly support state police, because the knowledge of every nooks and crannies of every community is crucial.
“Alternatively, there should be recruitment of more policeman in conformity with the United Nations standards. As a country, we are under policed. More people should be recruited into the police force and sent to their various local government of origin”, the Chief Whip stated
The Borno lawmaker, against the back drop of the activities of Boko Haram, has rolled out plans for his constituency in 2021 to cushion the effect of insurgency.
“There are a lot of programs in the budget such as Solar Street Light which is about N400m that is going to be installed in all the nooks and crannies of my constituency; reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads within Mungonu township that is worth N500m, a giant Nigerian Water Scheme in one of the local government areas that is worth about N400m and series of empowerment program that is lined up.
“Our people have lost their means of livelihood and many of them are staying in Internally Displaced Camps (IDP). So there is need to empower them with particular emphasis on women and youths”, he stated.
