Finally, FG Scraps DPR, PPPRA and PEF

By Uche Mbah

President Muhammadu Buhari has, finally, scraped three subsidiaries of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in line with the new Petroleum Law.

Under the new Petroleum Industry Act, enacted by the National Assembly last August, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) cease to exist.

They were, however, merged into two new groups-the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NPRA, and the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, NURC.

The two new departments have been inaugurated in Abuja Monday by the Minister of state for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva.

However, staff of the old agencies will be absorbed in the new agencies.

“The law states that all the assets and even the staff of the DPR are to be invested on the Commission and also in the authority. So that means the DPR doesn’t exist anymore,” Mr Sylva told Journalists.

“And, of course, the law specifically repeals the DPR Act, the Petroleum Inspectorate Act, the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Act and the PPPRA Act. The law specifically repeals them. It is very clear that those agencies do not exist anymore.

“The law also provides for the staff and the jobs in those agencies to be protected. But I’m sure that that doesn’t cover, unfortunately, the chief executives, who were on political appointments…

“The authority has its staff coming from the defunct PEF, PPPRA and DPR. The commission has staff coming over from DPR and the process is going on for the next few weeks.

“So far, the chief executives of these agencies have not been in place, but of course, Mr President in his wisdom made the appointment a few weeks ago and they went through a rigorous process of confirmation at the National Assembly.

“The agencies have now taken off because they now have clear leadership and today’s event marks the beginning for the new agencies,” he said.

He said that with the passage of the PIA into law, investors can now confidently invest in Nigeria’s oil sector.

“Today, the PIA has clarified the legal framework around the sector and the agencies are now in place. So I don’t see anything now stopping investors from coming,” he said.