The House of Representatives has promised to work closely with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to amend the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and extend it to other critical sectors of the national economy.
Chairman of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Committee (NCDMC) in the 9th National Assembly, Rt. Honorable Legor Idagbo made the pledge at the inaugural meeting of the Committee with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) held at the National Assembly recently.
He conveyed the committee’s determination to ensure that the gains recorded in the Oil and Gas Industry through the implementation of the Act in the last nine years gets replicated in other key sectors of the economy.
While admitting that other sectors had their peculiarities, Idagbo noted that the amendment would take those uniqueness into consideration.
He hinted that the current committee was different from its predecessor in the 8th assembly, adding that the name was changed from Local Content Committee and the mandate was expanded to other sectors in line with the Executive Order 5 issued by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He announced that the committee will oversight the activities of every ministry, department and agency to ensure compliance with Executive Order 5.
The chairman confirmed that the committee had drawn up its work programme, which would guide its activities into 2020. According to him, the committee had a large membership because many members of the House of Representatives were interested in attracting the benefits of Nigerian Content to their constituents.
In his presentation, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote lauded the committee’s interest in extending the NOGICD Act to other sectors and affirmed that the nation would derive several benefits if the move becomes a success.
He clarified that the focus of Nigerian Content implementation was not Nigerianization of the oil and gas sector but rather domiciliation and domestication of industry activities.
He also explained that Nigerian Content implementation was distinct from corporate social responsibility and does not compromise standards.
Wabote indicated further that the development of major oil and gas projects was critical to the growth of Local Content. “If we don’t have an enabling environment and we don’t catalyze more projects and Final Investment Decisions, we cannot increase Local Content,” he said.
He informed that Nigerian Content grew from below 5 percent before the passage of the NOGICD Act in 2010 to the current level of 30 percent. He also stated that NCDMB introduced the Nigerian Content 10 Year Strategic Roadmap in 2017, with the target to grow Nigerian Content to 70 percent by 2027.
The Executive Secretary however stressed that “the idea is not to achieve 100 percent. We want to claw back as much as possible and push the boundary for Nigerians to do so much. No one country has 100 percent technology and capacity in the oil and gas industry.”
Some returning members of the committee commended the Board for the achievements it had recorded with the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act, notably in the reduction of non-compliance against the Act. They also described the NOGICD Act as a blessing to the country and called for the extension to other sectors as quickly as possible.
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