The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for the immediate amendment of the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) recently approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Recall that Buhari on Monday signed the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law on Monday in a statement signed by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President.

According to the statement, the ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled.

Reacting, the party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja advised President Buhari to Immediately forward to the National Assembly an amendment bill to the new Petroleum Industry Act.

Ologbondiyan expressed surprise that Buhari ignored the huge outcry by the majority of disenchanted Nigerians and signed the bill as passed by the National Assembly into law.

He noted that the signing of the law in spite of widespread public rejection amounted to “endorsement of imposition, lack of respect for the people and the tenets of democracy as a system of government’’.

Ologbondiyan added that signing the bill into law was not in the interest of oil producing communities, particularly in the face of the challenges they faced as a result of oil exploration.

“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.

Wike: 3% for host communities not enough to tackle environmental pollution

Also, Nyesome Wike, governor of Rivers state, says the 3 percent provision for host communities in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is not enough to address the environmental challenges in the Niger Delta region.

Wike said this on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Tuesday.

With very soft voice, Gov. Wike said the signing by Buhari is a great development for the country but stressed that it doesn’t take into consideration the yearnings of the host communities.

He said the 3% allocation is relatively meagre to tackle the environmental pollution caused by oil exploration in these communities.

“As the host communities from the angle of someone who is from the Niger Delta, does the law really attend to our yearnings by Mr. President? No, in the sense that we believe that three percent is not enough as regards the kind of pollution and environmental crisis we have had as a cause of oil exploration,” he said.

“And I thought what Mr. President would have done is tell members of assembly to take into consideration yearnings of the host communities.”

“On that basis, I will say that we’re not quite happy because that three percent is not enough to tackle the issue of environmental pollution as regards oil exploration in our areas.

“The Petroleum industry law is a great development to the country, my concern is that the three percent is not enough for host communities.

“When you take into consideration who will manage these funds, and who will define who are the host communities or not. We are not arguing that passing the Petroleum act is not good for Nigeria.”