Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has reportedly ordered the indefinite suspension of the Petroleum Industrial Bill (PIB) a few weeks after the long-overdue bill passed the second reading.
According to a report by Vanguard, the decision of the senate president to suspend the bill was because of stiff opposition mounted by senators from the south who noted the removal of some delicate parts in the bill.
One of such removal is the host community fund which the senators say is not in the best interest of the region.
The southern senators had on April 13, when the bill was first presented for first reading, insisted that the deleted parts must be included if the bill will be considered.
A source privy to the situation told Vanguard that Saraki had a difficulty time in convincing his colleagues to support the bill’s first reading.
The PIB, which was renamed ‘Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill (PIGB),’ has been a sore point for the National Assembly for the last decade as each successive legislators have tried but failed to pass the bill.
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