The House of Representatives is set to introduce five bills aimed at addressing key challenges hindering the effective operation of Nigeria’s oil industry.
Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Alhaji Alhassan Ado Doguwa, made this known during a joint meeting with the House Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft in Abuja.
Alhaji Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said the proposed Bills which will be jointly presented by the Chairmen of both Committees, are part of legislative intervention to support government efforts in securing oil and gas assets and curb the menace of crude oil theft.
He explained tht one of the Bills seeks to establish a National Commission that will be empowered to prevent and prosecute pipeline vandalism and other oil sector-related crimes.
“The Committees and indeed the entire House are deeply concerned about the increasing insecurity and criminal activities around oil-producing areas. This intervention is a legislative response intended to complement government efforts in protecting these critical national assets,”
Alhaji Ado Doguwa, also revealed that one of the bills under the Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Committee championed by the Speaker Dr Abbas Tajuddeen, seeks to establish a Commission to oversee the decommissioning of oil assets as key concern of the host communities and stakeholders in the industry.
He said decommissioning process is a major policy priority of the current administration, but there are gaps in oversight that is why the Speaker and other leaders of the House have shown interest in backing legislation that provides statutory authority and legal framework for a commission to manage this process to ensure the interests of host communities are taken into account.
He further explained that each of the five bills under consideration will be sponsored by different members of the committees, but will collectively be presented as committee-driven legislation to reflect the collaborative effort and seriousness of the intervention.
COV /TSIBIRI
