The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has carpeted President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law despite the clamour against it by some section of Nigerians.
The PDP said the President should have held off on signing the bill into law until the areas of concern are addressed.
Naija News recalls President Buhari on Monday signed the 2021 Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law as confirmed by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina.
However, the PDP in a statement in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan said the decision by the President to sign the bill despite the public outcry is a confirmation of his disregard for Nigerians.
Ologbondiyan further advised the President to forward an amendment bill to the National Assembly immediately.
According to him, the signing of the bill into law is an “endorsement of imposition, lack of respect for the people and the tenets of democracy as a system of government’’.
“Mr President could have returned the bill to the National Assembly with a request that it be made to address the demands of the oil producing communities.
“Our party fears that the new law cannot guarantee the desired stability and development in the oil and gas sector as well as respite in the Niger Delta region.
“The PDP calls on President Buhari to salvage the situation by immediately forwarding an amendment bill to the National Assembly to reflect the true wishes and aspirations of every segment of our nation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the federal government has declared that the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law by President Muhammadu Buhari does not mean an automatic end to the fuel subsidy regime.
Naija News reports there have been anxiety from stakeholders and particularly, the consumers that the price of petrol in Nigeria may jump from N162-N165 to as high as N300 per liter following the signing of the PIB into law by President Buhari on Monday.
This is as market forces will now determine the selling price of petrol in the country and the subsidy regime will come to an end.
However, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva has clarified on Tuesday that the signing of the PIB by the President does not automatically translate to the immediate end of the subsidy regime in Nigeria.
He added also that newsmen will be engaged appropriately on the next line of action by the government when the time is right.
