By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives is set introduced five bills aimed at addressing key challenges affecting Nigeria’s oil industry.
These bills which will be jointly presented by the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft, according to Chairman of both Committees, Rep. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, at a joint meeting held on Tuesday, said that the proposed bills are part of a legislative intervention to support national efforts in securing oil and gas assets and curbing crude oil theft.
According to the Committee Chairman, one of the piece of legislation seeks to establish a National Commission which will be saddled with the responsibility of preventing and prosecuting pipeline vandalism and other oil sector-related crimes.
He said: “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”.
Rep. Doguwa explained that the two committees, Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and the Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft share similar jurisdictional focus, particularly on crude oil production and export.
“In my view, these two committees essentially deal with the same core issue: crude oil. While one focuses on the theft and security aspect, the other covers the drilling and export processes. That’s why we’ve decided to meet jointly and work together on these legislative proposals,” he added.
He further revealed that one of the bills under the Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Committee being sponsored by Speaker TajudeenAbbas, seeks to establish a Commission to oversee the decommissioning of oil assets, an issue which he said has raised concern among host communities and stakeholders in the industry.
The Chairman explained that each of the five bills under consideration sponsored by different members of the committees, will collectively be presented as committee-driven legislation to reflect the collaborative effort and seriousness of the intervention.
“The decommissioning process is a major policy priority of the current administration, but there are gaps in oversight. That’s 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, while also ensuring that the interests of host communities are taken into account.
“These bills will bear the names of different committee members, but they are not individual efforts. They represent our collective commitment to addressing the challenges in the sector and fulfilling the expectations of the leadership, government, and the Nigerian people,” Doguwa said.
