The Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, has announced the inauguration of a technical committee to review the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and its implications for the Trade Ministry.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Minister on Monday as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.
The technical committee would be headed by Muhammed Alhassan, Director, Legal Services of the ministry. They will review the PIA 2021 and its implication on Oil and Gas Export Permit being issued to exporters by Commodity Export Department (CED).
What the Minister said
“The committee will highlight the implication of the ACT on the roles of CED and Weights and Measures Departments under the Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme (NESS).
“It will suggest an 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.
“It will suggest ways to remedy the infractions on the responsibilities of the ministry if any; and prepare relevant letters to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly,” Adebayo said.
He added that the Trade Ministry is seeking to leverage on the act to have a more robust role in Nigeria’s economic breakdown, stating that the Act gives the Ministry new roles which had been under the Finance Ministry.
“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,” he said.
The Minister stated the committee’s assignment is critical to the continuity of some of its roles as a Ministry and is confident in the quality of members chosen to undertake this assignment.
In case you missed it
Recall Nairametrics reported last month that President Muhammadu Buhari approved a steering committee to immediately commence the implementation of the newly passed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The steering committee which will drive the implementation process is to be headed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, and will have a duration of 12 months for the completion of the assignment.
