Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has vowed to carry out tougher oversights on operational policies, capacity and technology in the oil and gas sector to ensure higher productivity, greater transparency as well as check wastes and manipulations in the industry.
This is coming on the heels of the new Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu (PDP Delta) made the disclosure at the end of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2021, in Houston, United States, on Friday.
Elumelu assured that the minority caucus will “intensify its legislative roles to ensure greater accountability in the sector, particularly in the context of the recently enacted Petroleum Industry Law (PIL)”
He noted that despite its certain shortcomings, which require further amendments, “the PIL presents robust legal instruments that can guarantee enhanced operations in the midstream and downstream sectors of the industry, if effectively implemented and monitored”.
According to Elumelu in a statement sent by his Senior Legislative Aide, SLA,
Tony Ayaegbunam on Saturday, “the OTC, as a capacity building forum, afforded us the opportunity to meet and interact with professionals, industry leaders, policy makers and investment partners on global best practices for greater productivity and transparency in the energy sector.
“The Minority caucus will be leveraging on the gains of the conference to further deepen our efforts towards expanding the productivity in the sector with emphasis on opportunities in local refining as well as investments in by-product and associated markets so as to achieved our full capacity in the industry”.
He noted that such effort will cover opportunities being missed by Nigeria in pipelines, refining, petrochemicals, crude and product tankers, local distribution as well as other offshore and onshore energy ventures.
The effort, according to the Minority Leader, will further expand our national revenue inflow as well as provide employment and investment opportunities for economic recovery.
The Minority Leader also assured that the caucus will, upon resumption of plenary, commence critical legislative processes including possible amendment to the PIL to further guarantee best practices in the industry.
