9th Assembly vows to break PIB jinx by passing the controversial bill.

Segun Oladipupo |

The leadership of the National Assembly said Monday that the ninth Assembly would break the jinx of not being able to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill after several attempts.

The President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan stated this on his official Twitter handle on Monday.

Ahmad stated that the leadership of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila assured Nigerians that the time had come for the passage of the bill.

According to him, they spoke at a meeting of the leadership of the National Assembly with the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari and some other top officials in the Petroleum sector.

The meeting was essentially to brief the National Assembly leaders on the focus of the PIB which the Senate President confirmed was forwarded to the Assembly about two weeks ago.

“The PIB is said to be jinx actually for a long time. Probably from 2007 to 2019,” Lawan said in his opening remarks.

“It’s either the bill or bills were sponsored by the Executive and not passed by the Legislature but that was the case in 2007, 2011 in the 6th and 7th Assembly.

“In the 8th Assembly, the Legislature sponsored the bill, breaking it down to about three, it passed but there was no assent.

“Now the bill is an executive bill coming to the National Assembly. The two chambers promise that we will break that jinx.

“We want to see an oil industry in Nigeria that is properly regulated, an oil industry that not only sustains the investments that we have but attracts even more investments, an oil industry that is very competitive.

“So the Ninth Assembly wants to work with you, have a very clear understanding of every provision so that, at the end of the day, we will break that jinx together with you and provide the oil industry legislation that will make more effective and efficient at the end of the day,” Lawan said.

The Senate President said it was the first meeting between the Petroleum Ministry and other agencies with the leadership of the National Assembly to discuss the essence and focus of the bill.