PIA: Speaker Warns NNPC Against Abuse Of Commercial Autonomy

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has warned that the commercial autonomy granted to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) must be matched with strict corporate accountability.

Abbas said the transformation of the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into a limited liability company was intended to improve efficiency, attract investment and maximise value from Nigeria’s petroleum resources, not to shield the company from scrutiny.

He spoke on Monday in Abuja at a retreat on PIA implementation, corporate governance and legislative oversight, organised by NNPC Limited in collaboration with his office.

The Speaker said five years after the enactment of the PIA, the country must critically assess whether its promises of transparency, commercial viability and accountability had translated into tangible results.

“Commercial autonomy must be accompanied by corporate accountability. The freedom to make commercial decisions must go hand in hand with responsibility for their consequences,” he said.

He stressed that legislative oversight should protect public resources and enforce statutory obligations without interfering arbitrarily in legitimate commercial operations.

According to him, effective oversight must promote transparency, institutional learning and performance improvement rather than create bureaucratic obstacles or undermine operational efficiency.

Abbas identified crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, production constraints, infrastructure deficits, investment uncertainty, regulatory bottlenecks and inadequate domestic refining capacity as major challenges confronting the petroleum industry.

He said unlocking Nigeria’s vast gas resources would also require sustained investment, improved infrastructure, appropriate commercial arrangements and regulatory certainty.

The Speaker disclosed that the 10th House had sustained its scrutiny of the petroleum sector through committee engagements, investigations into crude oil theft and pipeline surveillance arrangements, as well as assessments of domestic gas utilisation and energy infrastructure.

He urged participants at the retreat to identify implementation gaps, strengthen engagement between NNPC Limited and relevant National Assembly committees, and establish a framework for monitoring agreed actions. He added that genuine legislative gaps might require amendments, but poor enforcement of existing provisions should not automatically lead to new laws.

Speaker Abbas said the ultimate success of the PIA must be measured by increased oil production, greater investment, improved energy security, stronger domestic refining, higher revenue, job creation and tangible benefits for host communities, stressing that “the petroleum industry must work for the Nigerian people.”