The Senate will on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, debate the Petroleum Industry Bill forwarded by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly last week.
The disclosure was made in an announcement by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, moments before the upper chamber adjourned plenary on Thursday.
According to Lawan, early debate on the bill is expected to avert any delay in consideration, resulting from the upper chamber’s decision to suspend plenary for one month to enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government defend their respective budgets for the year 2021.
Lawan added that the critical piece of legislation, after the debate on the floor by lawmakers, would then pass for second reading and be referred to the Joint Committees on Petroleum; and Gas for further legislative work.
“For the PIB, we need to get the document to our Joint Committee before we suspend plenary, otherwise, the document will remain unattended to throughout the time that we would be handling the budget; and that means we can only come back to it around November or December, and that would be late.
“Everybody is waiting for the PIB to be attended to, but we will take sufficient time to work on it because it is a very sensitive document.
“Nevertheless, we should take the debate and Second Reading of the PIB by the upper week, Tuesday 20th, 2020, and refer the document to our Joint Committees on Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream); and Gas.
“So, while we are working on the budget, they can keep work on the PIB warm. We are not going to rush on it since we have the budget before us.
“Our Joint Committee must do everything possible for us to have a document or report that we would work with in the Senate and something that Nigerians and investors will be happy with,” the Senate President
Meanwhile , the general principles of the N13.08trillion 2021 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday by President Muhamnadu Buhari, will be debated in the Senate next week.
Briefing journalists on the plan of action, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru (APC Osun West), said expeditious consideration will be given the budgetary proposals as done last year.
He said, “Latest by Monday, detailed draft copies of the budgetary proposal must have been given to each of the currently serving 103 Senators.
“By next week Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the Senators will take their turns to discuss the principles of the Budget before it will be sent to the relevant committees,” he said.
According to him, both the budget and the PIB legislation, will be accorded expeditious consideration as against report made by a journalist that consideration of PIB, has been postponed to next year.
Senate hints on PIB, starts 2021 budget debate next week
