Nigeria's House of Representatives has told NNPC Ltd that the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 must now deliver increased oil production, greater investment, stronger domestic refining and tangible dividends for Nigerians — not just cleaner corporate structures.

Speaker Abbas Tajudeen set that benchmark at a retreat on PIA implementation, corporate governance and legislative oversight, organised by NNPC Ltd with the Office of the Speaker in Abuja on Monday. The Majority Leader, Hon. Julius Ihonvbere, represented him.

The fifth anniversary of the legislation, Abbas said, is the moment to test whether its promises have produced measurable improvement across the petroleum industry.

"Ultimately, the success of the PIA must be measured beyond institutional restructuring and corporate performance indicators," the Speaker said. "It must be reflected in increased production, greater investment, improved energy security, stronger domestic refining, enhanced revenue generation, employment opportunities and tangible benefits for Nigerians."

Passing the law was only the start, he argued. Its success now rests on effective implementation, transparency and institutional accountability. The National Assembly will keep pressing NNPC Ltd to meet its statutory obligations and manage the nation's petroleum assets in the public interest.

How far should legislative oversight go?

Abbas drew a sharp line between scrutiny and interference. Parliamentary oversight, he said, must strengthen governance without intruding on NNPC Ltd's day-to-day commercial operations.

"Effective oversight should promote better governance, not undermine operational efficiency," he said.

He listed the sector's most urgent problems:

• Crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism
• Production constraints
• Infrastructure deficiencies
• Investment uncertainty
• Regulatory bottlenecks

He also called for optimised domestic refining capacity and guaranteed crude supply to local refineries — without undermining the commercial viability of upstream operations.

Doyin Adelabu, Chief Executive of 3 Streams Synergy Limited, which helped frame the retreat, said the sessions would concentrate on corporate governance, accountability, legislative oversight and institutional cooperation, with participants expected to produce practical recommendations.

What threatens the governance reforms?

Dr Nuhu Habib, CEO of Avante Consultants and Advisors Limited, warned that weak board independence, persistent revenue remittance disputes and excessive government interference could unravel the PIA's corporate governance gains.

Speaking on the impact of PIA reforms and corporate governance on NNPC Ltd, Habib credited improvements in corporate structure and financial reporting but called implementation uneven — particularly in shareholder oversight, revenue transparency and institutional stability.

He identified four structural weaknesses: executive control over board appointments, NNPC Ltd's dual role as commercial operator and concessionaire, an unclear shareholder mandate, and unresolved fiscal disagreements.

Habib then raised a more consequential warning. Proposed amendments to the PIA, he said, could concentrate strategic control in the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), weakening the NNPC Ltd board and reversing the commercial independence the 2021 law intended.

Under the proposals, MOFI would become sole nominal shareholder and set the company's strategy, objectives and targets, while the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) would replace NNPC Ltd as concessionaire in subsisting contracts. Habib acknowledged the changes could improve revenue collection, reduce leakages and resolve conflicts of interest — but warned that excessive centralisation could erode investor confidence and blur the lines between ownership, regulation and commerce.

"Moving control between ministries does not by itself create accountability," he said. "Published mandates, fixed tenures and arm's-length contracting do."

His remedies: monthly reconciliation of NNPC Ltd's remittances with the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), publication of annual statements of dividends due and paid, disclosure of subsidiary accounts, and timely responses to outstanding audit queries. He also flagged the unresolved relationship between the Fiscal Responsibility Act and executive directives as a recurring source of remittance disputes.

Can lawmakers and the oil company work together?

Professor Ernest Ereke, a governance and development scholar, urged the National Assembly and NNPC Ltd to drop adversarial habits in favour of collaborative governance.

Lawmakers, he cautioned, must not use oversight to obstruct commercial operations or as instruments of political witch hunts, power struggles or extortion of corporate entities. Management, in turn, should stop treating legitimate legislative inquiries as institutional attacks; parliamentary scrutiny, he said, is an essential safeguard for governance and public trust.

He proposed a relationship built on regular information exchange, mutual institutional respect and early identification of regulatory and operational challenges.

The PIA's success, Ereke concluded, will depend not on the enactment of the law but on institutions translating its provisions into measurable outcomes.