Submit Performance Reports On Local Content Act Implementation, Senate Tells NCDMB

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has mandated the submission of a performance report on the implementation of local content in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors.

Uduaghan gave the directive at the first interactive session with the leadership of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Abuja.

The order was initiated after she expressed concern over the country’s economic woes, particularly the alarming level of unemployment, which has fueled an increase in criminality.

In a statement on Friday made available to THE WHISTLER, she said, “There is a need to deepen the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD Act), to create employment opportunities from the activities in the oil industry and catalyse other sectors of the economy.

“This is to request the Board to submit performance reports on the implementation of the NOGICD Act, specifically on the Board’s third-party investments, capacity building programs, expatriate quota management, and research and development.

“Also, the Board must recommend sections of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act that need to be amended by the National Assembly”.

Also, the committee chair criticized the international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria for not investing in the petrochemical sub-sector and other associated manufacturing activities, whereas IOCs in other oil-producing jurisdictions make such investments and contribute significantly to those economies.

She assured that the committee would invite the IOCs and other relevant agencies of government to compel the companies to create tangible value in the Nigerian economy beyond the extraction and sale of crude oil.

She said: “We need to get them around the table and tell them what we want as a country as against watching them export crude oil only.”

Assuring his compliance, the Executive Secretary NCDMB, Engr. Felix Ogbe assured that the Board would provide all the requested documentation and partner effectively to achieve the mandate of the committee and that of the Board.

On the Board’s performance, Ogbe stated that ‘Nigerian Content level for 2022 and 2023 stood at 54 per cent and the Board is on course to accomplish the 70 per cent target for 2027, as set in the Nigerian Content roadmap”.

On international oil companies’ model of operation in Nigeria, he explained that most oil conglomerates have different arms, which include the downstream companies that make such investments in the petrochemical and linkage sub-sectors

However, he noted that most operating companies in Nigeria do not have such subsidiaries in the country, hinting that the Board is willing to support indigenous firms that are interested in such ventures.

He added that the Board lacked the mandate to compel the IOCs to change their business model in Nigeria but was collaborating with some oil companies to develop the Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPs), which is designed to manufacture oil and gas equipment and components as well as other manufacturing and research and technology programs.