Executive Secretary/CEO, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote

BY FRANCIS EZEM

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board NCDMB, has said that there is no iota of truth in some sensational reports in a section of the media claiming that the Board has queried the infrastructural development in the country, especially in the rail sector and the delayed passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill PIGB.

Meanwhile, the Board has also said that it has grown the nation’s local content inputs in the oil and gas sector by over 25 per cent in the last eight years when it was created following the enactment of the Nigerian Content Act, 2010.

Recall that the Board’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, Dr. Ginah O. Ginah had represented the Executive Secretary/CEO of the agency, Engr. Simbi Wabote  at a one-day sensitisation seminar on Local Content Development in Shipping, Oil and Gas Logistics Operations in Nigeria, organised by Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria MARAN in Lagos recently.

While reacting to some sensational headlines in some newspapers, the GM said it was absurd to ascribe such reports to an agency of government like the NCDMB, which was established by law to be at the forefront of enforcing local content development in the country.

“I was shocked and embarrassed by the publication and wish to categorically reject and refute the story as complete misrepresentation. The entire reportage is replete with inaccuracies and conjectures. Specifically, I said that the Federal Government’s focus on rail projects abandoned for three decades is impactful and will catalyse commerce across the country and therefore enhance the revamping of the steel industry, which will in turn accelerate local content performance in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors.

“Participants at the seminar agreed that there is need for all to quicken the passage of all the Petroleum Industry Bills, not just the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill PIGB, so as to spur more investments into the sector”, Dr. Ginah also said.

The General Manager Corporate Communications however reiterated the Board’s determination to collaborate with other stakeholders, including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, to implement and enforce the provisions of the laws in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector, affirming that the Board has continued to enjoy excellent support from the highest level of government under President Mohammadu Buhari , which has enabled it to discharge of its mandate.

Meanwhile, Manager of the Board in charge of Corporate Communications, Mr. Naboth Onyesoh, who also expressed dissatisfaction over the misrepresentation of the GM, has said that the Board would leave no stone unturned in discharging its mandates of developing and monitoring the growth of the local inputs in the oil and gas sector.

He disclosed that in line with these efforts, the Board has grown the participation of indigenous operators in the sector from a meagre five per cent to over 30 per cent in the last eight years, insisting that it would continue to improve this performance in future.

It was gathered that in line with this projection, the new management of the Board is working with the Bank of Industry BOI towards ensuring that more cheap funds are made available to the indigenous operators through the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund NCIF.

Mr. Onyesoh, while pledging the commitment of the Board to always partner the media, however enjoined them to crosscheck their facts before publication so as to forestall misrepresentation of facts, which he insists would remain sacred.