The Federal Government has scrapped the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, made the disclosure on Monday at the inauguration of the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in Abuja.
Sylva hinged the government’s action on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The minister stated that the new bodies – NURC and NMDPRA – have taken over the functions of PPPRA, PEF and DPR.
Sylva said: “It is now a matter of law. 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.
“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 PIA provides for the upstream regulatory commission and the establishment of the midstream and downstream authority.
“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 that beginning for the new agencies.”
While staff of the three dissolved agencies are protected and would be absolved in the new bodies, the three chief executives of PPPRA, DPR and PEF have lost their jobs; they are political appointees.
On the fate of the workers, the minister said: “The law 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.”
Sylva stated that the staff of the defunct agencies are already being absolved by the new bodies.
“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.”
Speaking at the inauguration, the Chief Executive of NURC, Gbenga Komolafe, said Nigerians should expect massive deliverables in the sense that the PIA has ended the regime of uncertainty in terms of the governance of the industry.
PPPRA established in 2003 is to, among other responsibilities, monitor and regulate the supply and distribution, and determine the prices of petroleum products in Nigeria.
On its part, the DPR has the statutory function of ensuring compliance to petroleum laws, regulations and guidelines in the oil and gas industry.
PEF is the special intervention put in place by with the mandate of ensuring that petroleum products are sold at approved prices across the country.
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