PIB: NGF kicks against NNPC ownership structure

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) says it supports the unbundling and commercialisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as prescribed in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) but faulted the part of the legislation that places its ownership on the federal government.

The governors disclosed this in a communique issued by Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state and chairman of NGF.

The forum also backed the Southern governors’ recommendation on the proposed National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited.

They said the new entity that will emerge following the passage of the petroleum industry bill (PIB) should be owned by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

“The NGF recommends that given that the three tiers of government own the corporation, the new incorporated entity (NNPC Limited) should be owned by a vehicle that holds the interest of the three tiers of government – for now, the institution that is positioned to carry out this mandate is the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA),” the communique reads.

“This amendment as well as the proposed 3% share of oil revenue to host communities and 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins will be responded to at relevant channels including the National Assembly and the National Economic Council (NEC).

“The Forum will take a position on the planned privatisation of assets of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) which were listed by the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) without due consultation with state governments who are shareholders of the company.

“NDPHC is incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act as a private limited liability company with shareholding fully subscribed to by the Federal, State and Local Governments with a mandate to manage National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) in the country.”

According to the communique, the governors also took position on executive order 10 and financial autonomy for state legislature and judiciary.

The forum approved a common template for implementing the memorandum of action signed with the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASUN) on the implementation of financial autonomy for the state legislature and judiciary.

“The template was developed following a meeting of the State Attorneys General and Commissioners of Finance which held on the 25th of June 2021 at the directive of the Forum.”