POSITION OF NARTO ON THE RECENTLY PASSED PETROLEUM INDUSTRY BILL (PIB)

The leadership of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners wishes to join other well-meaning Nigerians in appreciating the distinguished members of the Senate and the honorable members of the House of Representatives for the yeoman job they did in course of passing the much-awaited Petroleum Industry bill.

As a very strategic Stakeholder in the industry, we are very conversant with the over two decades’ journey leading to the passage of this much awaited bill. The journey was riddled with several challenges and still births on the road and with a grateful heart we are getting closer to the destination.

NARTO is proud to be part of the historical journey over the years as we joined others to consistently clamored for the passage of this bill solely because of our strong belief that the PIB is a peculiar piece of legislation that would unlock the rich potentials of the oil and gas industry for the socio/economic growth and development of our nation

However, a careful examination of the bill as it is presently crafted shows that there are particularly critical areas our legislators and other stakeholders need to review for complete realization of the full potentials of the bill.

  1. IMPERATIVE OF BOARD MEMBERSHIP FOR NARTO;

There is no denying the fact that Transporters play very pivotal roles in the effective and efficient distribution of Petroleum products across the country and their experience and expertise can never be over emphasized. It is in the light of this that we call for our Inclusion in the boards of the industry regulator(s) most especially in the downstream sector of the industry as it will further strengthen in ensuring effective and efficient distribution of petroleum products across the nation.

  1. PREVENTION OF MONOPOLY OF IMPORTATION

As the Association for Transporters who handle haulaging of petroleum products across the country have suffered so much in terms of scarcity of products and limited access to loading locations in view of the constraints the country has been having with regards to importation of products over the years

As the nation is now intensifying efforts to make our refinery work, we are seriously taken aback by the provision in the bill restricting importation license to only local refiners.

All hands should be put on deck to ensure that the PIB does not monopolies the importation of PMS as currently provided in the bill.

Since one of the major reasons for the PIB is to ensure that there is competition in the downstream oil and gas industry, any provision to the contrary will make waste of all our collective efforts in that regard.

  1. ENCOURAGING INVESTMENTS IN DOMESTIC REFINING:

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners with huge investment in the haulage business strongly advocate that the PIB provides adequate encouragement and incentives to IOCs and indigenous oil producers to invest in the refining sector of the oil and gas industry. We strongly believe that such incentives will help in bringing in the much-needed investments in domestic refining.

As the two Chambers of the National Assembly meet to harmonize their positions, we earnestly plead that these issues be taken on board as they would further enhance the possibility of harnessing the full benefits and potentials of the bill to enable it to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

SIGNED:

ALH. YUSUF LAWAL OTHMAN

NATIONAL PRESIDENT

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