Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Richard Adebayo has inaugurated a technical committee to carry out a review of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and its implications on the statutory responsibilities of the ministry.
A statement signed by the Senior Assistant to the Minister on Media, Sayo Ifedayo, made available to Channel Network Afrique, CNA has it that the technical committee headed by the director, Legal Services, FMITI, Muhammed Danjuma Alhassan will among other things Review the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and its implication on the Oil and Gas Export Permit being issued to exporters by CED;
Review the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 in relation to the Weights and Measures ACT, and its implication on the Department;
Highlight the implication of the ACT on the roles of CED and Weights and Measures Departments under the Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme(NESS);
Suggest appropriate strategy to use in bringing the NESS scheme to FMITI since the scheme is about exports, which is a core mandate of the Ministry;
Suggest ways to remedy the infractions on the responsibilities of the Ministry, if any; and prepare relevant letters to Mr. President and the National Assembly.
The Minister who noted that the Act tampered significantly with some statutory roles of the ministry, said “As a Ministry, some of our roles as they relate to the administration of the Pre-shipment inspection and the Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) had hitherto been under the Ministry of Finance, and are now under the new commission under the Petroleum Industry Act.”
He stressed need for the ministry to leverage on the window provided by the review of the Act to enable it play a more significant role under the scheme in line with its mandate.
“Therefore, your Technical committee is expected to take a professional look at the document, come up with strategies that will help redress the identified issues. There is a sense of urgency in the execution of your assignment, so that we can seek the amendment of the infractions on the statutory functions of the Ministry, especially through a request to relevant institutions of government.
“It is important to state that your assignment is critical to the continuity of some of our roles as a Ministry. I am confident in the quality of members chosen to undertake this assignment, therefore I task you all to make far reaching recommendations that will help sustain and stabilise our operations,” he said.
The committee which comprises directors in the ministry has two weeks within which it is to submit its report.
