The member representing Darazo/Ganjuwa federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Rep. Mansur Manu Soro has called on members of the 9th National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill as promised.
He made the call on Saturday while speaking on the importance of the Bill to the Nigerian oil and gas industry and its overall economic development.
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The lawmaker disclosed that, earlier this week, he participated in a retreat on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) 2020 with the theme: reforming the oil and gas sector in Nigeria organized by the relevant committees of the National Assembly.
He added that, the Bill when passed will strengthen the industry’s governing institutions and attract more investment capital through changes in regulatory, governance and fiscal framework.
“The passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill in Nigeria has been long overdue.
“Countries like Saudi Arabia and Brazil have since passed similar legislation- a development that optimizes the revenues accruing to their governments.
“Nigeria in the past, made futile attempts to pass the legislation. We must not fail at this point in time,” he said.
Soro lamented that, despite having the largest proven reserves in Africa, Nigeria could only attract 4% of the $70 billion new investments committed to the upstream petroleum sector from 2015 to 2019, “largely due to dampened investors’ confidence created by the failure to pass the PIB”.
