President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that Nigeria lost investments worth at least $50billion due to delayed passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the last 10 years.
Buhari made the disclosure at Aso Villa yesterday at a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly on the passage of the Bill which he signed into law on Monday.
The PIB lingered in the National Assembly about 20 years before its passage by the Ninth Assembly.
The President said: “We are all aware that past administrations have identified the need to further align the industry for global competitiveness, but there was a lack of political will to actualise this needed transformation.
“This lack of progress has stagnated the growth of the industry and the prosperity of our economy.
“In the past 10 years, Nigeria has lost an estimated US$50billion worth of investments due to uncertainty created by the non-passage of the PIB.
”This administration believes that the timely passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill will help our country attract investments across the oil and gas value chain.”
