Uche Usim, Abuja

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Kesiye Wabote has said that the organization targets an annual turn-over of US$360m from its various partnerships in commercial ventures.

These ventures include the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State and the 12,000bpd Azikel Hydroskimming Modular Refinery in Bayelsa State. Other partnerships include 400,000 units per day LPG Cylinders manufacturing plant at Polaku, Bayelsa state, a 168,000 metric tonne per annum loading and off-loading LPG terminal in Koko, Delta State and 48,000 liters per day facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State for the production of base oil from used engine oil.

Wabote made the disclosure in Lagos at a recent capacity building workshop for members of the Senate Committee on Local Content and House of Representatives Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring.

The NCDMB boss, while delivering his paper on the “Implementation of Nigerian Content Act: the story so far,” noted that the implementation of the Act had resulted in the retention of about US$9bn annually from the average $20bn industry spend. He added that about 9 million man-hours had been achieved in training while indigenous players now own about 40 percent of marine vessels that operate in the oil and gas sector.

Dwelling on current issues affecting local content development and ways to mitigate them, the Executive Secretary regretted the drought of Final Investment Decisions (FID) on major oil and gas projects. He recommended that one major project should be sanctioned in the industry every two years interval to ensure continuous use of capacities and capabilities established in-country and sustainability and growth.

In his address, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Teslim Folarin stated that the retreat was organized to enable the legislators to have an in-depth knowledge on the mandate of NCDMB, its governing Act, identify areas of amendments and understand their oversight functions.

He posited that effective enforcement of the NOGICD Act will enhance in-country value creation and retention and generate employment for Nigerians across the industry value chain, especially now that revenue accruable to the Federal Government from other key sectors of the economy was dwindling.

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Folarin commended NCDMB for recording landmark achievements in the last 10 years, which included the creation of an enabling environment for indigenous companies to strive in the Oil and Gas industry; promotion of knowledge transfer, deepening in-country technical capacity, increasing industry contribution to the National GDP and facilitating access of Nigerian-made goods and services to regional markets among others.

He promised that the National Assembly will continue to collaborate with NCDMB to understand its challenges and that of the industry, with a view to providing necessary legislative support for the Board to enforce the NOGICD Act.

The committee chair confirmed that the two chambers of the National Assembly have set up a Technical Committee to commence a review of the NOGICD Act, to increase its relevance to current industry realities and expand its scope to cover other key sectors of the economy. “Their report will be submitted and considered by our Committees for further legislative action,” he added.

In his remarks, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring, Rt. Hon Legor Idagbo underscored the need for improvement in the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act, with a view to increasing the contribution of the oil and gas sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Idagbo noted that the House Committee had a robust relationship with its Senate counterpart and expressed hope that it would lead to tangible benefits for the country.

He announced that the committees will commence their oversight functions immediately after the retreat, so that Nigerians can derive maximum benefits from Local Content implementation.

He also canvassed for the involvement of relevant agencies by government and private sector entities while negotiating terms of foreign loans, to ensure due consideration of Local Content requirements in foreign loans and the attendant projects.