NEITI lauds Buhari for signing PIB into law

By Eloyi Matthew

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law, describing the development as historic.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this on Monday, in Abuja, in a statement signed by Obiageli Onuorah, Head of Communication and Advocacy.

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Orji said the new law ended decades of uncertainty concerning the future of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

In his words, “The new law has opened a new phase of wider opportunities in the oil and gas industry. For us in NEITI, President Muhammadu Buhari has broken new grounds, created new business horizon built on healthy legal frameworks with realistic optimism for inflow of investments, revenue growth, and job opportunities.”

Orji further expressed optimism that the Petroleum Industry Law will provide the dynamic legal governance framework required to re-position Nigeria’s petroleum industry to fully embrace competition, openness, accountability, and professionalism.

According to him, the law will bring better returns on investments to both companies and the government.

“I want to also use this opportunity to call on companies, government agencies, and civil societies involved in the oil and gas sector governance to give this law a chance to succeed.

“NEITI will study the contents of the new law and work with national and global partners, especially EITI to use the law to open the Nigeria oil and gas sector for transparency, accountability, and inflow of foreign direct investments into Nigeria.

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“NEITI is hopeful that the huge revenue losses which Nigeria has witnessed over these years as a result of process lapses and weaknesses in previous laws will be checked while restoring investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector,” he said.