Sylva Aide shed more light on PIA -Says a percentage is not as important as the value on the percentage

 By  Correspondent

“The purported statement about the recently passed PIA, by a lone ranger, was not an official statement from the IYC but rather the imaginations of a single individual.

So, I will leave the IYC out of this. 

 

It is shameful this PIA has been turned to a PDP/APC affair. First of all, if you look at the history of the PIB now the PIA, beginning from the late days of the military into the Obasanjo government you will find that it has been a bipartisan effort till date. Every government, whether PDP or APC, has had the desire to pass this bill but in most cases the will wasn’t there.

If former President Goodluck Jonathan, with Dieziani Allison as Minister of Petroleum could have passed this bill easily with just 1% of operating cost for Host-Com, I'm certain they would have done it. But there are booby traps only President Buhari and H.E Sylva dared and prevailed.

Now, a skeletal few are saying the Host-Com's 10% was downgraded to 3%. The question is: 10% of what and 3% of what?

The 10% and 3% are two different things. The 10% should have come from profits from local/foreign operators. But very few oil companies publish reasonable profit these days, if they even publish at all. There is no way to gauge or ascertain their profits. The Host-Com might be told any certain year that, look, we made no profits this year so nothing for you. Or, better still, we made just a meagre sum in profit so your 10% too will reflect that.

But we have now a 3% which will be way more certain since its coming from the Operating cost. Operating costs are more trackable, on average, companies spend about 16 billion dollars as operating costs yearly. Naturally, this can fluctuate, but we have some numbers we can estimate on. This means, since we are now being fed by the Operating cost, there is a level of certainty and assurance that the Host-Com will always get something substantial yearly and it also suggests that the Host-Com will be immuned from manipulation.

It is also important to know that these monies will be paid directly to communities, not through state or local governments and perhaps this explains why state government officials and appointees (especially in Bayelsa) tries to appear agitated.

This is the best thing to have happened to our oil bearing communities for years and if we leave politics out of this we will all see the merits of the PIA. 

Besides, the fundamental purpose of this act is to unclutter and open up our energy sector. Attract foreign investors and consequently have more hands on deck in maximising our vast energy potentials.

The purpose of the Act is not merely to share money but to bring lasting, concrete development to our communities.

This Act will be felt very strongly soon and the talk of percentage will go out the window. A percentage is not as important as the value on the percentage. If you agitate for the wrong 10% you might get a value way leaner than the right 3%. A percentage of even 90% may not still get the value of a strong 1%

People should take time and critically study the bill.

This is a start, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. God hates ingratitude. Let us appreciate what we have already and in God's good time we can strive for more.

This will be followed up by a media chat at the weekend in Yenagoa. I will be addressing the PIA, some unfortunate statements from a certain group and a lone member of the IYC and other discussions,” said Julius Bokoru.