President Buhari has signed the Petroleum Industry Bill into law

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) 2021 into law.

According to a statement issued by Femi Adesina, the president assented to the bill on Monday in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty.

”The ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday, after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled,”

The President is currently working from home in observance of the five days’ quarantine required by the presidential steering committee on COVID-19 after returning from London on August 13.

The senate had passed the bill on July 15, 2021, while the house of representatives did the same on July 16, thus ending a long wait since early 2000s.

On July 1, the senate and the house of representatives passed the PIB, allocating 3% and 5% percent respectively to host communities.

This, however, generated reactions from stakeholders in the oil industry and leaders in the Niger-Delta region.

At the public hearing on the bill, representatives of the host communities had demanded that they be allocated 10 percent on the grounds that three percentage is not enough to improve the standard of living of their people.