President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the House of Representatives, seeking approval for the Federal Government to reimburse five states the sum of N148.14bn for constructing roads on its behalf.
The presidential request was read at the opening of plenary on Tuesday by the speaker of the house, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Buhari sought “approval of the reimbursement of through the issuance of promissory notes to Bayelsa, Cross River, Ondo, Osun and Rivers State governments for federal road projects executed by the states.”
Buhari noted that the Federal Executive Council, at a meeting on June 3, 2020, approved the reimbursement after a memo was presented by the Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola at the third virtual council meeting, which held at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja.
If the request is approved, Cross River will receive N18,394,737,608.85; Ondo will receive N7,822,147,577.08; Osun will receive N2,468,938,876.78; Bayelsa will N38,040,564,783.40 while Rivers will N78,953,067,518.29.
Buhari also transmitted the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to the National Assembly for passage into law.
In a letter read by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila at the resumption of plenary, the President said the bill is expected to carry out significant reforms in the laws governing the petroleum industry, which has been encapsulated in two previous laws.
The proposed bill makes provision for the creation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The bill also proposes the commercialization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The bill also proposes the establishment of an agency known as the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, which will be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum operations.
