NASS Will Pass Petroleum Industry Bill By April – Sylva

• The government plans to spend $1.5 billion to fund the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers State
• A move many have described as an addition to the country’s debt profile

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has disclosed that the National Assembly will pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which is currently before it by April 2021.

Sylva, who made the disclosure on Thursday at the weekly presidential ministerial media briefing at the State House in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), told journalists that the bill would not suffer a setback, going by all indications from the leadership of the National Assembly.

According to him, if the nation must diversify from petroleum, it must go in the direction of gas.

Read also: Port Harcourt Refinery: ‘Not All $1.5bn Will Be Borrowed’, FG Tells Nigerians

He stressed the importance for Nigeria to steer away from oil to gas, adding that the 20-year-old PIB would attract a lot of investments to the gas sector.

Sylva also took a swipe at Dino Melaye, faulting his analysis of the proposed rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery.

He declared that Melaye is no expert on refinery and should, therefore, not impress his views on an area he is not conversant with.

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