Senate Receives PIB Report, Begins Consideration Tomorrow

Kyari meets House today over bill

Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Senate yesterday received the report of its Joint Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream) and Gas Resources on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) 2021 and promised to debate the report tomorrow (Thursday).

Also, the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kyari, will today meet with members of the House of Representatives as part of efforts aimed at ensuring the smooth passage of the PIB.

The Senate also passed an N329.963 billion statutory budget for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the 2021 fiscal year.

The PIB report was laid during the plenary by the Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Sabo Mohammed.

Speaking after the report was laid, the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, told his colleagues that the report would be considered tomorrow.

He, therefore, mandated the joint committee to provide all senators with copies of the bill ahead of its consideration to enable them to study its content.

He said: “Let me use the opportunity to thank our joint committee for working so hard, selflessly, and patriotically to produce the report on the Petroleum Industry Bill. This report, a copy each, must be made available to each and every senator this Tuesday afternoon. I don’t know how the committee would arrange it, but every senator must have a copy today.

“[And] we would be considering the report on Thursday. So, we have today, tomorrow until the beginning of Thursday to look at the report, so that when we consider it, we will be doing so on the basis of what we have been able to read from this very important report.”

Also yesterday, the upper legislative chamber

approved N329,963,491,523 billion as budget for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This was a sequel to the consideration of the report of the Committee on Federal Capital Territory on the FCT Appropriation Bill, 2021.

Presenting the report, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said from the projected revenue of N329,963,491,523, N74,323,382,813 is for personnel costs; N58,728,614,466 for overheads and N196,911,494,243 for capital projects.

According to him, the overall performance of the FCT 2020 Statutory Budget Allocation was 88 percent as of 31st December 2020.

Kyari added that most of the projects executed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA) were still ongoing “due to overbearing ineptitude of getting the due process certificates on time.”

He said new and ongoing projects were not sufficiently funded due to delay in the release of funds, occasioned by bureaucratic bottlenecks.

According to him, projected revenue accrued to FCT Administration was N30 billion naira, due to additional revenue derived from Additional Statutory Allocation received from the differential distributed from the Excess Crude Account for receipts from January to May 2021, and expected receipts for the remaining seven months of the year and stamp duty refunds.

According to him, the Committee on FCT consequently increased the fiscal framework to accommodate revenue receipts from additional statutory allocation and stamp duty fees to bring the total expenditure to N329,963,491,523 billion

Kyari to Meet House Today over Reform Bill

Meanwhile, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, will today meet with members of the House of Representatives as part of efforts aimed at ensuring the smooth passage of the PIB 2021.

The Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who disclosed this at the resumption of plenary yesterday, met with members of the Special Ad hoc Committee on Petroleum Industry Bill yesterday (Tuesday) to tidy up some issues.

He also committed the lawmakers to pass the PIB, Electoral Act, and the Supplementary Budget in two weeks’ time.

Gbajabiamila tasked the lawmakers to ensure these key legislations are passed within two weeks before they embark on their summer break next month.

He said: “I will be meeting with the ad-hoc committee on PIB, today by 3 pm to tidy up some things. We need to pass these legislations before we go on summer break. Two weeks is a very short time. We must do it all. These are landmark legislations, including the supplementary budget.”