The process for the passage of the two-year old Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has begun anew at the National Assembly against pledge by lawmakers that the legislation will not repeat stages reached by the past legislative session.
The House of Representatives read the bill the first time again last week, and the Senate has promised to do same, setting the stage for an altogether new debate for the document that was in its final stages of passage by May 2011.
The government has said its hopes for major reforms in the nation's top earning oil and gas sector is hinged on the voluminous legislation introduced by the Yar'Adua administration in 2009, and the petroleum ministry has earmarked N17.2 million for its implementation in the 2011 budget. But the passage of the bill has since been delayed.
It, however, managed through two readings and committee work before the end of the sixth Senate and the House of Representatives, raising fears the process - reportedly costing about 700 million naira - might be restarted, as required by the internal rules of both chambers.
Senators and members of the House dispelled the idea as it gathered strength in the dying days of the former legislative session, promising amendments to their rules to enable final debates and passage of the bill.
But with the amendment now in place at the Senate, the lawmakers say a continuation of the bill's progress, reached by the outgone assembly, can only be actualised with a constitutional amendment as well.
Constitutional huddle
"There is no way the Senate can carry on with this bill and others without amending section 64(1) of the constitution," the Senate majority leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, said last week.
The section declares that both chambers "shall each stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date of the first sitting of the House," a position interpreted by the lawmakers to imply that every activity of a previous assembly terminates as a session ends.
More so, they argue that the provisos in the constitution as well as their standing rules provided coverage for new legislators who may not be knowledgeable about the details of the past processes, and also to recognise that a sponsoring lawmaker may not return for a new tenure.
A restart of a bill requires a fresh gazetting, first reading, second reading, committee public hearings and consultations - a process that draws cost for each legislation - before final debates and passage.
But the process, which, according to lawmakers, implies that several bills - particularly those without returning sponsors - may be dumped after reaching an advanced stage, has raised concerns about the cost effectiveness of the policy.
Both arms have, however, said, the processes will be quickened and the cost lowered.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayThe House of Representatives read the bill the first time again last week, and the Senate has promised to do same, setting the stage for an altogether new debate for the document that was in its final stages of passage by May 2011.
The government has said its hopes for major reforms in the nation's top earning oil and gas sector is hinged on the voluminous legislation introduced by the Yar'Adua administration in 2009, and the petroleum ministry has earmarked N17.2 million for its implementation in the 2011 budget. But the passage of the bill has since been delayed.
It, however, managed through two readings and committee work before the end of the sixth Senate and the House of Representatives, raising fears the process - reportedly costing about 700 million naira - might be restarted, as required by the internal rules of both chambers.
Senators and members of the House dispelled the idea as it gathered strength in the dying days of the former legislative session, promising amendments to their rules to enable final debates and passage of the bill.
But with the amendment now in place at the Senate, the lawmakers say a continuation of the bill's progress, reached by the outgone assembly, can only be actualised with a constitutional amendment as well.
Constitutional huddle
"There is no way the Senate can carry on with this bill and others without amending section 64(1) of the constitution," the Senate majority leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, said last week.
The section declares that both chambers "shall each stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date of the first sitting of the House," a position interpreted by the lawmakers to imply that every activity of a previous assembly terminates as a session ends.
More so, they argue that the provisos in the constitution as well as their standing rules provided coverage for new legislators who may not be knowledgeable about the details of the past processes, and also to recognise that a sponsoring lawmaker may not return for a new tenure.
A restart of a bill requires a fresh gazetting, first reading, second reading, committee public hearings and consultations - a process that draws cost for each legislation - before final debates and passage.
But the process, which, according to lawmakers, implies that several bills - particularly those without returning sponsors - may be dumped after reaching an advanced stage, has raised concerns about the cost effectiveness of the policy.
Both arms have, however, said, the processes will be quickened and the cost lowered.
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There should be continuity in the passage of this bill that has reach advanced stage instead of wasting tax payers money and the resources of the nation.
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