The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has suggested that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) be converted into a public liability business with shares available to all Nigerians.
According to the NLC, the House of Representatives does not appear to adequately represent this wish of Nigerians, identifying it as a serious flaw in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
The NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, told The Nation that as part of its submission to the PlB during the public hearing, the NLC advocated for the NNPC to be converted into a public liability company in which every Nigerian can hold shares.
He stated that the goal to make Nigerians stakeholders in the country’s commonwealth appeared to have fared well in the Senate’s deliberations.
“The bill as passed by the upper chamber of the National Assembly retained the recommendation of the Joint Committee in Clause 53 which empowers the Minister of Petroleum Resources to incorporate the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation as a limited liability company to be known as NNPC Limited.
“We are concerned that unlike the Senate representation of Clause 53, Clause 53 of the PIB as passed by the House of Representatives does not seem to sufficiently capture this desire of the Nigerian people. This is a major blight in the PIB. It is not good enough.
“We urges the National Assembly during its Conference to harmonize the two versions of the passed bill pursuant to the Senate’s representation of Clause 53 by effectively sanctioning the transformation of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation into a Public Liability Company.
“This would project the democratic appeal of the Petroleum Industry Bill as a legal instrument that caters for the masses of Nigeria.
“Poor and ordinary Nigerians who have endured the shorter end of the stick under the old petroleum law deserve better.”
On the percentage of revenue proposed in the PIB going to oil-producing communities, Wabba said it’s critical that the National Assembly’s conference committee ensures equity in the harmonisation of the three percent proposed by the Senate and the five percent proposed by the House of Representatives, especially in a way that gives oil-producing communities a sense of justice, fairness, and inclusion.
This, he explained, is due to the fact that these communities face the brunt of crude oil exploration and production.
Wabba went on to say that the Congress was also concerned about the lack of workers’ representation in the governing structures of the envisaged commercial and regulatory institutions and organizations that would emerge from the NNPC’s unbundling.
Wabba, on the other hand, praised the Senate and House of Representatives for passing the bill, calling it “excellent news.”