Stakeholders in the Niger Delta have faulted the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) passed by the House of Representatives, last week, saying it does not meet the expectations of the Niger Delta people. 
They alleged that the PIB, as passed by the federal lawmakers, has further given the multinational oil companies more advantages to exploit the system.
According to them, the petroleum law did not give the host communities the desired benefits.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Energy, Dr Peter Medee, while faulting the petroleum law, described the three percent oil revenue derivation approved for host communities by the House of Representatives as very disappointing. 
According to him, the slashing of the derivation from the 10 percent recommended by the state government to three percent approved by the House of Representatives was not encouraging.
Medee, while speaking to newsmen in Port Harcourt, last week, also noted that the petroleum law did not specify whether the three percent derivation is from the production profit or otherwise.
Sharing the same sentiment, a Niger Delta activist, Victor Amakiri, noted that the PIB so passed by the federal lawmakers favoured the multinational oil companies far above their host communities. 
He described the reduction of the oil revenue derivation from 10 to three percent for the host communities as disappointing.  
“In spite of efforts made in pushing this recommendation forward, it was disappointing to note that the 10 percent recommended, which was not even enough, was slashed down to three percent, which to me, will not impact meaningful development to the host communities”, he said.
Meanwhile, an operator in the oil and gas industry, Mr Tonye Wokoma, has also frowned at the slashing of the proposed 10 percent oil revenue derivation to three percent by the House of Representatives.
He said the action of the federal lawmakers showed that the Nigerian state was not yet ready to tackle the challenges of the Niger Delta region.
According to Wokoma, “what they are interested in is how to use the oil revenue in the Federation Account to explore oil in the North and Lake Chad basin, which was not used during exploration of oil in the Niger Delta”.

By: Corlins Walter