Nigeria hopes a long-delayed bill to overhaul parts of the country’s oil industry can be sent to President Muhammadu Buhari to be signed into law by the end of March, the head of a parliamentary petroleum committee said on Friday.
The OPEC member is Africa’s largest oil producer. Crude sales are the nation’s economic mainstay, making up two-thirds of government revenue, but the sector’s development has been held back for decades by mismanagement.
The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) is the first part of a larger piece of legislation, known as the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), to pass through parliament.
The PIB, debated for over a decade, was broken up into sections to help it pass into law more easily.
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Nigeria’s lower house of parliament in January passed a version of the PIGB which was the same as one approved by the Senate last year – the first time both houses have approved the same version of the bill.
It needs the president’s signature to become law.
“Hopefully, by the end of the month, the National Assembly will transmit it to the president for assent,” said Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who chairs the upper house of parliament’s committee on upstream petroleum.
The PIGB would create four new entities whose powers would include the ability to conduct bid rounds, award exploration licences and make recommendations to the oil minister on upstream licences.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
