With the furor in the National Assembly of Nigeria over the much awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Social Action, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth-Nigeria and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre have presented a Joint Position Paper on the PIB.

The immediate background are significant distortions to the PIB that could detract from the goal of addressing the multifaceted problems of the industry, including inefficiency, corruption, opaque contractual arrangements, environmental pollution and loss of livelihoods of petroleum bearing communities. In the Joint Position Paper, the national civil society organizations outline some of the specific policy issues that should be revisited to ensure an improved consolidated PIB.

It contains thorough examination of the Senate and House versions as compared with the original proposals of the Federal Government during the Yar’Adua and Jonathan Presidencies. The Joint Position Paper focuses on the core areas of concern of civil society and communities, as determined during Consultation Meetings on the PIB that were organized by Social Action in Yenagoa and Port Harcourt between November 2009 and May 2011.