The immediate past Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has explained the main reason why President Muhammadu Buhari rejected the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).
According to him, it was rejected because some sections of it appeared to be self-serving and they put the interest of individuals above that of the public.
“That Bill (the PIG Bill) was fundamentally rejected among others, by the President because of the fact that the interest of the host community was compromised, in the sense that self-serving sections were brought into it, conferring powers on an individual as against the institution… and the public interest element of the role of the president requires that the public interest should be factored more as against public or individual interests,” he said.
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Mr Malami said this during his ministerial screening at the floor of the Senate on Friday while responding to questions about his plans if he was nominated.
According to him, one of the major things that he would like to address is the speed with which bills are being assented to by the President, through the establishment of strong collaboration between the arms of government.
“The major thing that I think I can do differently by way of ensuring that at the end of the day, bills coming from the National Assembly, are assented to, by the President is to establish a culture of collaboration – deep-rooted collaboration for that matter and not a collaboration as we see it today,” he said.
The PIGB which was rejected among five others, seeks to make the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPRC) the sole regulator overseeing the licensing, monitoring and supervising of petroleum operations.
It also gives the NPRC the powers to enforce industry laws, regulations, and standards.
