By Paul Effiong, Abuja
House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and the Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft have resolved to jointly create a special commission aimed at addressing the key challenges affecting the oil industry.
It also pledged to push for five Bills that would provide formidable legislative framework to tackle oil theft and vandalism in Nigeria.
Chairman of the two committees, Alhassan Ado Doguwa disclosed this at a joint meeting held at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, on Wednesday.
Doguwa explained that the five Bill’s are part of a legislative intervention to support national efforts in securing oil and gas assets, as well as curb crude oil theft in the country.
While pushing for a special agency to expedite the trial of crimes against oil vandals, Doguwa disclosed that the five bills also sought to establish a national commission that would be empowered to prevent and prosecute offences in oil sector-related area.
According to the lawmaker, his committee is urgently contemplating to have something like a commission with a legislative framework to ensure that statutory and legal requirements are met.
“The other committee is my statutory committee, that is the House Standing Committee on Petroleum Resources. The two jurisdictions, obviously, to me, are basically one. You are talking of crude oil theft. On one hand, crude oil not refined or white products,” he said.
The commission, when established, would exercise legal authority amongst all operators, as well as take care of the perception and concept of host communities.
He informed that his committees are also considering some bills to address the loopholes and lapses in pipeline vandalism and oil theft history.
“So I want to use this opportunity to thank the leadership of the House for giving us this mandate to continue as a standing committee to cover this area. And part of the reasons why we have taken this mandate seriously is that government itself, the president, has been so worried about attacks and security issues around oil produces, states and areas of our country.
“The committees and indeed the entire House are deeply concerned about the increasing insecurity and criminal activities around oil-producing areas. This intervention is a legislative response intended to complement government’s efforts in protecting these critical national assets,” he said.
He revealed that one of the bills under the Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Committee is being championed by the speaker and seeks to establish a commission to oversee the decommissioning of oil assets, an issue that has sparked concern among host communities and stakeholders in the industry.
He explained that each of the five bills under consideration will be sponsored by different members of the committees, but will collectively be presented as committee-driven legislation to reflect the collaborative effort and seriousness of the intervention.
