President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate, seeking an amendment to the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The letter of the president was read during a plenary on Tuesday on the floor of the Senate by the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan.
Buhari in the lettersn is requesting for an amendment to allow for the removal of the Ministers of Petroleum and Finance from the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
According to him, the ministers should be able to continue in their roles without necessarily being members of the board.
The letter read in part, “The two ministries already have constitutional responsibilities of either supervision or intergovernmental relations that will continue to perform such roles without being in the board,” he said.
“It is also important to note that administratively, the representatives of the ministries in the board will be directors in the same rank in the institutions.
“This may bring some confrontations on some decision making especially on issues of staff-related matters.”
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“The PIA provided for the appointment of two non-executive members for the board of the two institutions. I am of the view that this membership initiates limitation and does not address the principle of balanced geopolitical representation of the country,” he added.
“I, therefore, pray for the intervention of the ninth assembly to correct this oversight in the interest of national unity. Needless to add that this amendment will provide a sense of participation and inclusion for almost every section of the country in the decision-making of strategic institutions such as the oil industry.
“If this amendment is approved, it will now increase the number of non-executive members from two to six. That is, one person from each geo-political zone.”
Buhari is also seeking for an amendment to allow the Non-Executive Members to be increased from two to six in the interest of the national petroleum.
Also, in anotehr letter, President Buhari asked the Senate to screen and confirm the board members of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
