Comrade Issa Aremu, vice president, Africa, Industriall Global Union has described President Buhari’s signing of the Production Sharing Contract,PSC Act as a landmark event.
Though he noted that more needs to be done, Aremu said the act balances corporate greed with urgent national needs. Comrade Aremu said this in a statement Thursday
His statement reads: “It was truly commendable, historic and developmental that President Muhammadu Buhari had accented to the new Deep Offshore (and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract) Act. This singular amendment of the Deep Offshore Act has for once in recent times commendably balanced the age long corporate greed in oil and gas sector with urgent national needs in terms of revenue.
ALL HAIL TAX JUSTICE IN OIL SECTOR
“It is refreshing that since 2003, Nigeria henceforth would receive “its fair, rightful and equitable share of income” from its oil and gas, hitherto made impossible with the old law that kept oil taxes to the barest minimum, disregarding the upward swing in oil prices. The Act is indeed a victory for the campaign for Tax Justice in the oil and gas sector.
HAIL 9TH ASSEMBLY/GOVERNMENT COOPERATION
“The ACT also points to the benefit of development cooperation between the 9th National Assembly and the Federal Executive. This new complementarity of policy positions between the Executive and legislature must be extended to all sectors. Never again should Nigeria return to the past discredited era of governance by competition rather than cooperation between various arms of government. 1999 Constitution envisages separate but complimentary and non-antagonistic arms of government.
HOWEVER, NOT YET UHURU
“However there is more to be done. This new amendment should not be one off event but enduring process to reinvent the oil and gas sector. Nigeria must urgently erase the “black hole” perception of our oil and gas industry to realize the benefits of expected improved revenue from the amended Act. There is the need for more transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector as envisaged by the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that is still gathering dust. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) namely, the Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company Limited (NPAMC), the National Oil Company, the National Gas Company (NGC) must operate within the framework of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) and Public Procurement Act (PPA) so as to check inherent corruption and misappropriation of accrued revenues. The point cannot be overstated that oil and gas had never been short of revenues, what is missing is accountability underlined by crass corruption, primitive accumulation, sheer funds diversion and downright theft. NEITI “just revealed that as much as $42 billion had been stolen from crude and refined products in less than a decade. President Muhamadu Buhari has the responsibility to close the “black hole” in the sector.
SECTOR DIVERSIFICATION NOT JUST INCREASED GOVERNMENT REVENUE TAKE
“As significant as the new ACT is, it is not yet Uhuru until Nigeria diversifies the sources of income in the oil and gas sector beyond Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/National Hydrocarbon Tax into Companies’ Income Tax on value adding activities in downstream sectors. President Buhari must therefore unbundle the NNPC now, make taxable refineries work, create sustainable taxable decent jobs. Future of Nigeria lies in diversified value adding oil and gas sector not in extraction and export of crude oil no matter the percentage of government take in percentage tax. Sustainable fiscal regime that would benefit Nigeria must be based on value addition and production in oil and gas sector not necessarily tax on oil extraction. Nigeria must learn from other oil producing countries that have maximized national benefits from the entire oil and gas value chains through enhanced national revenues, transparency and accountability, creation of sustainable decent jobs and growth of national domestic product.”
