The Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, on Thursday suffered a setback as lawmakers in the House of Representatives could not reach an agreement over the five per cent host communities trust fund.
The PIB Conference Committee report which was scheduled on the order paper for presentation and consideration at plenary was stepped down.
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This is obviously an outcome of the closed-door session held after members of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the House of Representatives protested the outcome of the PIB Conference Committee.
The conference committee is said to have adopted the three per cent passed by the Senate which didn’t go do down well with some lawmakers in the House.
Earlier, a shouting match erupted as Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, was just about to take his seat with some lawmakers chanting “it must be five per cent” “we want five per cent”
The Speaker immediately called for a closed-door session as the situation could not arrest the situation.
The House had passed five per cent at the plenary for the establishment of the Host Communities Trust Fund, while the Senate dragged it down to three per cent.