PIAC Accountability Oversight Weakens With Amendment Of PRMA

The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), a critical oversight agency over the country’s oil revenues, has been stripped of its petroleum funding following amendment into the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.

The change, assented to the President as part of the various amendments revises the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) – Amended Act, 2015, specifically Sections 21 and 57, removing a crucial source of financial support that ensured PIAC’s independence and effectiveness.

The situation seems to cripple the accountability agency of many responsibilities as source of funding becomes a major setback.

For instance, since the launch of the 2024 Annual Report on petroleum revenue, PIAC is unable to carry out engagements with stakeholders, including the media, on some findings in the report, which is part of the oversight roles.

Since the amendment, the committee is unable to get necessary government funding to embark on monitoring of projects under the petroleum revenue as part of its mandate.

This is due to a further drop in budget allocations to the committee for the year 2025.

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JoyBusiness has also gathered that operations of the committee at its secretariat is challenged as a result.

The Amended Act 2015 stipulated that a minimum 70% of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) – which is the portion of petroleum receipts approved by parliament to support the national budget for a financial year – should be used for public investment expenditure.

It also directed that PIAC’s annual budget, submitted for inclusion in the national budget for each financial year, should be charged on the ABFA.

However, the new provision in the law had taken away the section which gave PIAC a portion of oil proceeds to fund its oversight work.

Section 21 of Act 815 amended – The Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), referred to in this Act as the ‘principal enactment’, is amended by the substitution of section 21, “Use of the Annual Budget Funding Amount”.

It states that ABFA is part of the national budget and its use and expenditure are subject to the same budgetary processes which are necessary to ensure efficient allocation, responsible use and effective monitoring of expenditure.

According to the latest revision, “The use of annual allocations of the ABFA shall be (a) to maximize the rate of economic development; (b) to promote equality of economic opportunity with a view to ensuring the well-being of citizens; (c) to undertake even and balanced development of the regions; and (d) guided by a medium-term expenditure framework (aligned with a long-term national development plan) approved by parliament.”

For Section 57 of Act 815 amended, the latest revision states: “The principal enactment is amended in section 57 by the repeal of subsection (3)”.

This development, according to the Africa Senior Programme Officer-for the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Denis Gyeyir, takes PIAC a decade backward to pre-2015 days when PIAC funding was at the pleasure of the Ministry of Finance.

“The Committee, in most cases, had to rely on oversight actors and media advocates who had to ‘make noise’ before funds would be disbursed for PIAC’s work. One does not expect that the Minister of Finance, who is subject to PIAC’s oversight mandate, would be given the discretion on PIAC’s funding” he asserted.

Mr. Gyeyir further criticised government’s decision to eliminate the priority area provision, saying it undermines the ABFA’s intention.

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