President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the National Assembly to exclude the names of the ministers of Finance and Petroleum from the list of soon-to-be incorporated board members of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.)
President Buhari made the request in a letter addressed to the National Assembly seeking an amendment to the recently enacted Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The President’s letter titled “Forwarding administrative structure amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 was read to Senators by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, during yesterday’s plenary.
He listed three sections of the PIA that he wants to be amended as 11(2)(b) and 34(2)(b); 11(2)(f-g) and 34(2)(f-g); as well as 11(3).
The President explained in the letter that amendments to the sections were needed to make for seamless administrative structure in the Act.
A part of the letter reads; “Having carefully reviewed the administrative structure of both the Commission and the Authority; I would like to propose the following amendments to the PIA 2021:
“Appointment of non-executive board members: The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 provided for the appointment of two non-executive members for the board of the two regulatory institutions.
“I am of the view that this membership limitation has not addressed the principle of balanced geopolitical representation of the country, therefore, I pray for the intervention of the 9th Assembly to correct this oversight in the interest of our national unity..
“If this amendment is approved, it will now increase the number of the non-executive members from two to six that is one person from each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.”
