Senate Constitutes 7-man Conference Committee On PIB

The Senate has set up a seven-man conference committee on the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, announced the composition of the conference committee at plenary on Tuesday.

He named the committee members to include the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, who will serve as Chairman; Senators Mohammed Sabo – North West; Albert Bassey Akpan – South South; Danjuma Goje – North East; Opeyemi Bamidele – South West; Stella Oduah – South East and Gabriel Suswam – North Central.

Lawan charged members of the conference committee to meet with their counterparts in the House of Representatives to enable the National Assembly come up with a final document on the PIB for transmission to the Executive arm of government.

He said, “The conference committee will meet with our counterparts in the House, the House will also announce the composition of the conference committee, and we hope that they will swing into action immediately, so that we are able to have the final document of the PIB which we will transmit for the presidential assent.

“So, we expect our delegation here under the leadership of the Senate Leader to engage with our colleagues in the House of Representatives.”

Last Week, the two chambers of the National Assembly passed the age-long PIB with the Senate approving three percent of operational cost as Trust Fund for Host communities while the House of Representatives approved five percent.

The conference committee of the two chambers is expected to harmonise the percentage due to the host communities before the final cleaning of the bill for onward transmission to the President for his assent.

THISDAY