PIB: Nigeria loses $15b yearly, Kachikwu says

The Group Managing Director, GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and ministerial nominee from Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has urged the National Assembly to change its approach to the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, to ensure its speedy passage to meet the needs of the oil industry.

According to Kachikwu, the nation presently loses $15 billion yearly to the absence of PIB.

Kachikwu stated this while fielding questions from Senators at the ongoing screening of ministerial nominees sent to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking further, the NNPC boss said, he will not bother to create any PIB bill but will rather take a look at the existing one and make adjustments where necessary.

The ministerial nominee hinted that one of the adjustments that should be made is breaking down the present bill and removing the financial regulation, which is volatile at the moment and concentrate on other aspects. These, according to him, include the issue of administration, regulation, the place of host communities and other things.

He contended that one reason that has dragged back the passage of the PIB has to do with the issue of lack of proper consultation and engagement of critical stakeholders in the industry, offering to help the lawmakers conduct the engagement.

In the same vein, Kachikwu hinted about the possibility of removing the controversial oil subsidy.

According to him, most players in the private sector do not want subsidy retained, hinting that that is also his mindset.

Read also: NASS buries PIB

The NNPC GMD also disclosed that he has been discussing with President Buhari over the issue of subsidy and that the President understands his position but is concerned about palliatives to be put in place before removing subsidy.

“The President understands my position on subsidy but he is concerned about the palliatives that must be put in place. We are still talking about it.

If the subsidy issue is not handled well, there will be problems. The palliatives such as health insurance, rail transportation and other things have to be put in place”, he said.

Continuing, Kachikwu said: “There is no doubt the subsidy payment process is beset with so much fraud and we are at the moment reviewing it. The volume of fuel said to be consumed daily has been reviewed and it has fallen by 25%, meaning subsidy also has fallen by 25%. If at the end of the day, the subsidy comes to a manageable level, then it may not be wrong to maintain it until everything we need to put in place are in place”, he said.

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