Nigeria’s senate will present a long-awaited oil overhaul bill to the full chamber for passage on Tuesday, according to an order paper seen by Reuters.
The president sent the bill to the National Assembly in September last year, and presentation to the full chamber means the senate is ready to pass the package, although the timeline of passage was not immediately clear.
The bill aims to modernise Nigeria’s petroleum industry and attract a shrinking pool of global fossil fuel investment dollars. Observers had hoped the political alignment of the presidency and the National Assembly would break a cycle of failure that has stalked overhaul efforts for 20 years.
But the House has not updated its timeline for considering the bill, and sources told Reuters the chamber could be a bigger obstacle to quick passage.
There are demands for big changes to the bill, including from community leaders seeking an increased share of revenue, could push its passage into late this year. read more
Last week, Blueprint had reported that, demands for big changes, including from community leaders seeking an increased share of revenues, could push its passage into late this year.
The last-minute wrangling over the package – which aims to modernise Nigeria’s petroleum industry and attract a shrinking pool of global fossil fuel investment dollars – has disappointed those who hoped the political alignment of the presidency and the National Assembly would break the cycle of failure that has stalked overhaul efforts for 20 years.
Among the changes are proposals to publicly sell shares in state oil company NNPC and implement market-based prices for gas to power.
At acrimonious meetings in the nation’s capital, Abuja, this week, community leaders revived demands to increase their share of petroleum produced in their regions to 10 per cent – up from 2.5 per cent.
