Some legal practitioners in the country have expressed criticisms over some of the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act recently signed into law by the President, alleging that various sections of the Act were unfair.

Recall that some governors had previously kicked against some provisions of the bill in an August 10 letter to Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

The letter, which was signed on their behalf by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, pleaded with the President to withhold his assent to enable the National Assembly take another look at the bill along the lines of their observations.

However, on August 16, the President went ahead to sign the bill into law, sparking a wave of protests by governors and various groups across the country.

But a legal practitioner and business development expert, Babatunde Olafisoye, in an interview with our correspondent, said, “The PIA is no doubt a major landmark in developing our petroleum laws. Increasing the scope of the powers of the NNPC certainly would increase Nigeria’s stake and interest in our oil sector. Not only this, it will further boost local content in the largest profit-making sector in the federation.

“However, the much-celebrated Act is not without criticism, and like many other laws, there is always room for improvement. Both Federal and State bodies have expressed concern about specific sections of the Act, and I share their sentiments.

“One of these concerns relates specifically to section 53 and section 9(4) and (5) of the Act.

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“The NNPC plays an important role when it comes to profit-making for the federation in the petroleum sector. Excluding states from the ownership of shares in the NNPC is unfair given that it restricts their right to access benefits to state resources.

“The state’s rights are clearly not considered in this section. The major shareholders in the NNPC can still be directly traced to the Federal Government. It gives room for the arbitrary sharing of profit since there is clearly no profit-sharing formula for states to benefit from.”

Recall also that the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, during a stakeholders’ forum last week, said the three per cent allocated to host communities from the operating cost of the oil companies was unsatisfactory to the people of Niger Delta.

“We are convinced that the five per cent demanded by our state and other oil-producing states is fair, just and equitable in view of the ecological and environmental degradation that the host communities are exposed to from oil exploration,” Okowa said.

Another legal practitioner, Olawale Busari, while commenting on the unsatisfactory provisions of the Act, said, “It is unbelievable that the Petroleum Industrial Act recently signed into law by the President dispossesses the people of Niger Delta and other oil-producing states of the rights to their resources.

“It is within public knowledge that the House of Representatives proposed a five per cent share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives. However, I am not surprised that the President jettisoned this and went for three per cent which doesn’t reflect the revenue generation of individual states.

“By assenting to the bill, the President, by virtue of sections 9(4) and (5) of the PIA, has once again shown that the interest of the minority is of no concern to his regime.”