Members of the Host Communities Producing Oil and Gas are fighting identified loopholes in the Petroleum Industry Act and urging the Senate to make the necessary changes.
This was disclosed in a memorandum signed by the National President, HOSTCOM, Dr Benjamin Tamaranebi, and filed with the Senate Joint Committee on Petroleum Industry’s public hearing on the 2021 PIA (amendment) Bill.
The memo was sighted by our correspondent on Monday. The memo noted that HOSTCOM members were not included in the inauguration of the steering committee and the appointment of the various governing boards of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, and Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority.
It stated that no attention was paid to the concerns impacting host communities. It raised concerns about the isolation of the host villages, who are meant to be the first key stakeholders.