By Musa Baba Adamu
Senate said the yesterday assent by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), much as it is a major victory for Nigerians, has the potential to bail Nigeria out of its economic predicament by enabling the country to make the most of economic gains of the oil industry.
Spokesman of the Senate, Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, in a statement he issued yesterday, said the Senate congratulates President Buhari, the leadership and members of the National Assembly and all other stakeholders in the oil industry over the rest.
According to the statement, the Senate said efforts at getting the PIB passed have been a protracted affair, as the Bill, first initiated in 2003, had been subjected to a ping pong affair between the previous legislatures and the executive.
The statement said “The 9th National Assembly finally broke the jinx when it recently passed the Bill after working dispassionately by putting the interest of the nation first, over petty squabbles and other selfish interests.”
Basiru attributed the success of the assent to the Cooperative efforts of all participating sectors in the process and also the non-confrontational policy of the present National Assembly.
On the benefits of the Act, Basiru said it will improve the national economy by liberalising the petroleum sector, adding that it will pave way for investors, both local and international, to invest in the oil sector, with government on a competitive basis.
