President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that there are forces within and outside the country working desperately to frustrate the consideration and passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill presently before the National Assembly.
Lawan made this known on Tuesday in a speech delivered when members of the Senate Press Corps paid him a visit to mark the occasion of his 62nd birthday celebration in Abuja.
“The PIB is like a demon. That PIB thing, there are people both inside and outside the country, who would work against it, but it is going to take the strength of our patriotism to pass it,” he said.
He said it took the firm resolve of the National Assembly to pass the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Bill in 2019.
He said that the passage of the Bill by the Legislature caused an increment to the country’s revenue profile from Deep Offshore activities from $216 million annually to $2 billion dollars.
Lawan, however, assured Nigerians that the same approach adopted by the National Assembly in ensuring the passage of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Bill would be deployed for the consideration and eventual passage of the PIB.
