Senate President Bukola Saraki says the crisis in the Niger Delta is responsible for the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

Saraki said this in a interview he shared on his Facebook wall on Wednesday. He said the current bill with the Senate did not address all the issues.

He said, “I think I’ve explained this a few times. We had done all the work. We had completed work, but unfortunately just when we were about to debate was when the unrest in the Niger Delta started, and when we had the militants attacking the pipeline. And we felt that the timing is not the best.

“The PIB that we want to do now is the PIB that has to do with governance. Our approach to PIB is that it cannot just be one bill, it has to be broken down into different sections and it has to do with what the people in the Niger Delta are concerned about. The community issues is not part of this bill that is before us, and unless we enlighten people in the Niger Delta well, they might misunderstand it to mean that maybe we don’t have any interest in addressing the community issues. So, we said it would be expedient to step that down, do more advocacy, explain to people.”

He urged on the Federal Government to open up avenues for dialogues with the militants which would enable the Senate forge ahead with the PIB

“The part of the PIB that is due now, only has to do with governance, it does not say that we are not going to come back to address the community issues. Really it is unfortunate that is just the timing of the events that are happening in the Niger Delta, and that is why one of our recommendations to the government is that whatever it takes we must engage in dialogue with the Niger Delta.

“The executive should quickly put up an official team to start negotiating with the people of the Niger Delta, and I think that would send a lot of confidence, and I think that would create the enabling environment for us to forge ahead with the PIB.”

See video below: