Deputy Speaker, the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, has aid that the House will consider the passage of the much-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) when members meet for plenary this week.
Ihedioha, who spoke to journalists at Uhunmwode, Edo State, said that the bill will be passed before the end of the current legislative cycle, which runs out first week of June.
Ihedioha led a delegation on a condolence visit to the Minority Whip of the House, Samson Osagie, at Urhokuosa, Uhunmwode, Edo State, whose father, Pa Samson Osagie Imarhiagbe Ogbewe died recently.
According to him, copies of the billss have been distributed to member ahead of the resumption of plenary.
He said, “I think it will be most unfair for anybody to insinuate that the House is not working on the PIB. We have slated it for passage and we have mentioned it and we said we have to accomplish it before the end of this Assembly.
“As we speak, copies of the Bill for consideration have been distributed to all members of the House to enable them study it so that they can make inputs. This week, we invite all Nigerians to join us as we take the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill because we believe that the passage will do the Nigerian economy and the petroleum industry a lot of good.
“It is most unfair for anybody to indicate that we have not done anything about corruption. First, the leadership of the House and the 7th Assembly have discharged itself as a House that lead by example. We have led the House transparently and we have open our books for anybody or individual to appreciate how we have ran the affairs of the house and that is why in the 7th Assembly, there is no banana pills.
“We also have done everything that we can to expose corrupt practices by any branch of government and by any member of the society. “We have done all we need to do and we have asked the Executive to do its own part. If the Executive fails to do its own part, that is not the responsibility of the House and it’s not an indictment of the legislature. We have exposed corruption where necessary.”
