Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), has secured the commitment of the House Committees on Environment and Host Communities to review grey areas in the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT), and to ensure accountability, transparency and fairness in the oil and gas company divestment processes.
This was part of the resolution reached, which is contained in a communique after a two-day training session for members of the Joint Committees on Host Communities and Environment of the House of Representatives, organised by SDN, in Uyo.
The training, which covered how to address grey areas within chapter three of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, and the provisions of the HCDT regulations, as issued by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), was intended to raise awareness among legislators regarding divestment in the oil and gas sector, its implications and the necessity for the nation to establish an appropriate legal framework for responsible divestment in the oil sector.
Its purpose was to update the legislators on the progress of the implementation of HCDTs.
In her opening remarks, the Country Director, SDN, Florence Ibok Abasi Kayemba, said that the organisation recognises the obvious gaps in divestment and the HCDT, while believing that the legislature can solve this problem by taking appropriate actions that will ensure transparency and accountability; hence, the need for the retreat.
Kayemba maintained that the retreat will help to provide the right information and ideas to support legislators’ work, expressing hope that the collaboration between the House Committees and SDN will result in motions for amendment of the PIA, as well as a proposal for a divestment bill.
