Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari has described the one-year timeline set for the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as ‘strange to law’.
President Muhammadu Buhari gave the timeline when he inaugurated the implementation committee headed by Minister of State (Petroleum) Timipre Sylva last week.
But Kyari, speaking in an interview on NTA yesterday, noted that the implementation committee, of which he is a member, has even extended the period to two years.
He said: “I think the PIA is very clear on the timelines when you have to deliver on these provisions.
”Let me be specific. On the establishment of the NNPC Plc, the law is very clear that within six months, the Minister of Petroleum and the Minister of Finance will call for the incorporation of the NNPC Plc.
“That means the farthest it can go without incorporating the NNPC is six months.
”So, also a number of timelines have been set for other agencies that need to be established so that the law can run its own course.
“ Definitely, the timeframe that the committee has taken for itself to be completely effective is one year and of course deliver completely in two years.
“There may be no need for making it two years because it is very obvious that the law has set up the framework that will make it impossible for you to stay that long.”
