Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed the Petroleum Industry Act to revitalise the country’s oil industry. Though many people cheered this decision given the bill’s long trip through the national assembly, which lasted more than ten years, it remains the subject of public controversy.
Though the Act establishes a legal, governance, regulatory, and fiscal framework for Nigeria’s petroleum industry, one of the most contentious problems was the distribution of funds to communities hosting petroleum assets and operations. According to the Act, these communities are now entitled to three per cent of the oil firms’ operational costs.
The Host Communities Trust Fund is required to handle this fund under Section 2 of the Act. Still, it should be noted that the percentage will never be sufficient to develop the region that bears the brunt of the oil industry’s operations!
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