President Muhammadu Buhari has
signed the bill seeking to amend the deep offshore and inland basin production
sharing contract (DOIBPSC) act into law.
The bill seeks to amend the act
by reviewing the sharing formula to accrue more benefits to the federal
government.
Nigeria is projected to earn an
additional income of $1.4 billion annually from international oil companies
operating in the country if the bill seeking to amend a particular section of
the act is passed into law.
Buhari signed the much
anticipated law from his residence in the UK where he is on a private visit.
Writing via his Twitter handle,
he described the new law as “a landmark moment for Nigeria”.
Although Nigeria signed the first
set of PSCs in 1993, while the DOIBPSC was enacted in 1999, failure to review
the PSC act has reportedly caused the country to lose about $28 billion.
The amendment of section 16 of
the production sharing contract act would generate at least $500 million as
additional revenue for the federal government in 2020, and an estimated $1.4
billion as from 2021.
In a separate statement, the
presidency quoted Buhari as saying with the new law, Nigeria will now receive
its “fair, rightful and equitable share of income from our own natural
resources for the first time since 2003″
“All this time Nigeria has failed
to secure its equitable share of the proceeds of oil production, for all
attempts to amend the law on the distribution of income have failed. That is,
until today,” he said.
“Rapid reductions in the cost of
exploration, extraction and maintenance of oil fields had occurred over these
25 years, at the same time as sales prices have risen.
“A combination of complicity by
Nigerian politicians and feet-dragging by oil companies has, for more than a
quarter-century, conspired to keep taxes to the barest minimum above $20 per
barrel – even as now the price is some three times the value.
“Today this changes. For the
first time under our amended law, 200 million Nigerians will start to receive a
fair return on the surfeit of resources of our lands. Increased income will
allow for new hospitals, schools, infrastructure and jobs.”
The president added that the
amendment signals the beginning of beneficial relationship with oil company
partners: “one that benefits all – starting with the Nigerian people”.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com