Omotayo Alasoadura, chairman, senate committee on petroleum resources (upstream), says the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) will be harmonised and presented for presidential assent by March 30.
Speaking on Friday at the maiden edition of the Energie Platform Lecture Series in Lagos, Alasoadura said that a conference committee had been set up by the national assembly to harmonise various provisions of the bill for its smooth passage.
“The PIGB as at now has not been completely passed,” he said.
“The senate passed its own in May last year and the house of representatives passed their own last month.
“What we call a conference committee in the national assembly has been set up to look at areas of differences between the two legislative arms… and yours sincerely talking with you this morning is the chairman of that committee.
“We have worked to some extent, we now left the bill to the administrators, that is the clerks in both chambers, to ensure that all areas are reconciled and the bill comes out next week.
“The senate president is eager to sign the bill and present it to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for assent.
“I want to assure that the upper week, on Wednesday precisely (March 28), that bill will be taken to both chambers, that is the senate and the house of representatives and passed into law by the two chambers simultaneously.
“I also want to assure that not later than Friday following (March 30), that bill will have been submitted to the President for his assent.”
Alasoadura also expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari would waste no time in assenting to the bill, following the efforts put in for the bill to be signed into law.
“We know he (President Buhari) has only 30 days to say yes or no,” he said.
“But I know that since legislature and executive worked on this bill to get to where we are, I don’t think there will be any problems in the president assenting to the bill.”
TheCable
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