Militancy: Saraki orders indefinite suspension on PIB

The  contentious and long awaited Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, has suffered another set back, as the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has ordered an indefinite suspension of work on it.

The bill, which has passed second reading at the Senate, was ordered suspended by Saraki in reaction to the serious opposition mounted against the treatment of the bill by senators of southern extraction.

The removal of the Host Community Development Fund, captured in the original PIB, has brought up renewed agitation in the Niger Delta, with militant elements insisting on its return before it is passed.

Senators had argued thatthe bill was not in the best interest of their region due to the exclusion of the host communities fund and vital areas of the bill.

It would be recalled that the Senate President had said the bill, which the Senate, in harmony with the House of Representatives, have re-christened Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, PIGB, would be passed in Senate, for subsequent assent by President Muhammadu Buhari, under his leadership.

However, he was taken aback when, on April 13, Southern Senators insisted that the bill must be treated in full without any portion excised when it was presented for first reading.

According to a source in the Senate, Saraki had tough time convincing the Southern Senators to allow it pass first reading.