Comments
Thanks for your kind comments and useful suggestions, Daniel. I am with you on how best to resolve the 'mess' (although I will call it 'pain') that the PIB has become. I am not surprised about this because it was anticipated. My very first reaction to the document when it was first submitted to the National Assembly in December 2008 was that it was just omnibus. The explanation I got the from somebody who was part of the process was the present difficulties were anticipated, except in less magnitude. The decision to stick to the the omnibus document was informed by the conviction that it would be beneficial to undertake a big fight once and for all than engage in several fights with several bills. The reality is that the strategy has failed. Going forward (especially in the face of proposition by the new Group Managing Director of the NNPC, now a minister-designate to propose another PIB in one year), I strongly believe we should EITHER have a new PIB within the first year of the Buhari administration or choose the option you have argued. This is necessary because of the fact that a new PIB will not automatically address the rot in Nigeria's oil and gas industry. It will still require many years of taking the proposed restructuring and reforms to a logical conclusion. And we need to have all that happen within the 4 years term of the Buhari administration, without necessarily anticipating a second term. Nigerians are tired of policy reversals. It will be another thing entirely if he expresses interest to seek for a second term and he wins. As for now lets work within the 4 years that is currently guaranteed.
First of all, the above is an excellent post.
This is true both in terms of the narrative argument(s) of the post and also the rich set of links to PwC, KPMG, Kalu Idika Kalu and Nuhn Ribad-led reports, to name but a few; in short, the post provides a library of useful resources for further reading, which is very welcome.
The post even taught me a new word or two, e.g. "prebendal", that is relating to a prebend, a form of benefice held by a prebendary which (historically) affords the holder an ecclesiastical stipend (regular financial payment). In secular life the analogy to day-to-day life in secluded neuks (if you need to, then just Google it :-) .... just as I had to Google "prebendal") of the Nigerian extractive industries is obvious, and pithy.
I was also taken by your point, Dauda, that civil society has failed to engage fully on EITI as it relates to hard minerals, as opposed to petroleum. A major failing, as you say. But that is not all: you highlight the limitations of the realities of NEITI (mining and petroleum), realities that senior NEITI figures past and present are reported as now saying as potentially undermining Nigeria's chances of realising the benefits of the initiative. For example, the ultra-slow follow up on NEITI recommendations, and the opaque nature of some petroleum trades in Nigeria.
Lastly, the reference to the PIB is highly pertinent. I understand that the new government has put the PIB on hold, reviewing what on earth to do with this would-be all-encompassing petroleum Bill (covering upstream, midstream, downstream etc.) that is so long in the gestation. I would suggest that the best thing would be to cut the thing up into constituent parts and try and get each part optimised (e.g. upstream exploration regulatory and legal regime), drafted into a Bill and passed as an Act, rather than seek a miracle cure in the form of one single PIB. But that is just my perspective. If the worry is that the different bits would not hold together properly (starting off with no outright contradictions between the laws' legal provisions), then perhaps the Nigerian political set up has an institution to properly ensure that they do? I don't know if it does. In France the equivalent is the Console d'Etat.
Personally, I would start off with trying to unravel the mess that the PIB has become over time, and seeking a more rational set of legal provisions (both hard and soft law). If the legal framework can be reformed then perhaps the new President will have a better chance of tackling the byzantine Nigerian petro-politics, regarding which reform of the NNPC is a totemic end goal. Or is there a better place to start?