The spirit behind oil was on display Thursday as a fight broke out among the representatives of host communities at the public hearing organised by the House of Representatives on the Petroleum Industry Bill, Abuja.
Representatives of the communities engaged in physical combat after the chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, invited members of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas to the podium to make a presentation at the event. As this happened, other bodies of host communities, stood up, leading to a rowdy session.
The situation became worse when members of the opposing sides began to exchange blows, a situation that forced the lawmakers to seek the intervention of security operatives.
Conflicting interests have been part of the reasons for the delay in the passage of the PIB, which has gone through several versions.
Leaders of the Niger Delta, under the aegis of the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, had on Tuesday, rejected 2.5 percent proposed for them in the Petroleum Industry Bill 2020, being considered by the joint Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources, including Downstream, Upstream, and Gas.
The communities are insisting on a minimum of 10 percent of the operating expenditure of the oil and gas companies operating in the region, instead of the current offer of 2.5 percent.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has promised that the PIB will be passed in the first quarter of 2021.
