PIB will be passed into law, says Ndoma-Egba

Against the background of northern leaders stance against the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba yesterday assured that it would be passed into law.

He told reporters at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Calabar yesterday, that the bill holds the key to the envisaged reforms in the petroleum sector.

He said the National Assembly with a membership of 469, is a medley of different interest groups, each fighting to protect its own interest, but with a bill like PIB seeking to unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), intense lobbying will be exploited to see it through for the good of all.

He said:“For me, I’m not surprised that the North is agitated, but they have not said they are against reforms in the petroleum industry. This bill is very relevant to the oil sector. At the appropriate time, we shall go into negotiations and horse-trading and arrive at a compromise for the Bill to be passed into law,” he said.

Ndoma-Egba maintained that the advantages of the bill far outweighs its disadvantages, hence Nigerians should see the need to have a bill that would make investors come in to set up refineries, encourage competition in the sector which in the main would self-regulate the price of petroleum products and create jobs for the unemployed.