NCDMB enlists judicial support for NOGICD Act

Sopuruchi Onwuka

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is strengthening its partnership with the judicial officers in the country to guarantee realization of the full economic aspirations of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010.

The local content regulator in the petroleum industry weekend extended its stakeholder outreach to the men in the legal profession with a one-day sensitization workshop for members of the Bench and the Bar in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State.

Executive Secretary, Engr Simbi Wabote, declared to the lawyers in Port Harcourt that the Nigerian Content Act was enacted to arrest economic plunder associated with millions of jobs in the Nigerian petroleum industry which were traditionally exported to other countries for execution.

He said earnest implementation of the law has enabled government recapture significant 54 percent of economic values linked to goods and services consumed in the domestic oil, gas and chemical industries.

The Oracle Today reports that the NCDMB under Engr Simbi Wabote has accelerated the evolution of indigenous oil and gas exploration and production companies that currently account for significant 30 percent of Nigeria’s total crude oil and natural gas production processing and distribution.

Through deliberate and targeted patronage, the agency has also propelled capacity growth among indigenous oil services companies which have now displaced multinational competitors in the local turf and continue to compete strongly in the global industry pitches.

According to Engr Wabote, the NOGICD Act is borne out of a resolve to reverse the trend in several decades of oil exploitation during which “only a small, insignificant proportion of the oil and gas industry value was retained in the country.”

He said the NCDMB was born to displace an industry practice where all value adding activities were done overseas, resulting in the loss of about $380 billion worth of jobs over a 50-year period. He said local content was a paltry five per cent, and job losses were in the range of two million during the period “as most jobs were also executed by foreigners.”

He told the lawyers that the NCDMB is driving creative and effective implementation processes to achieve its core mandates to “Develop Local Capacities and Capabilities without Comprising Standards and Monitor and Enforce the Provisions of the NOGICD Act, 2010.”

He reported that in-country value retention of 54 percent was achieved as of December 2022, surpassing the 42 per cent target set for that year. He pointed out that Nigeria now retains at least $10.8 billion of the $20 billion average annual spend of the oil and gas industry.

In a keynote address the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, said the Judiciary as the key institution for interpretation of laws is a stakeholder deserving of thorough acquaintance with the salient provisions of the NOGICD Act.

In pointing at Sections 70, 104, 59 other sections of the NOGICD Act, Engr Wabote emphasized the role of NCDMB to engage in targeted capacity building interventions, manage and grow the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), approve Nigerian Content Plans and issue Certificate of Authentication, among other responsibilities.

Sections 3, 12, and 28 of the Act, he said, deal with fields of industry operations where Nigerians must have first consideration in the award of blocks and licenses; use of Nigerian goods and services in the evaluation of bids, and in the employment and training of workers.

Section 104 prescribes the creation of a Nigerian Content Development Fund, while Sections 37, 38, and 39 deal with Research and Development. In Section 59, the focus is on Effective Monitoring of the Implementation of the Act.

With a “10-Year Strategic Road Map” instituted in 2017 as compass, targeting 70 per cent Nigerian content by the latter date, Engr. Wabote highlighted milestones in capacity building attained thus far in the upstream, midstream and downstream subsectors of the industry.

These include two world-class pipe mills and pipe coating yards in FOT Onne, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos; 40 per cent of marine vessels now owned by Nigerians; major fabrication yards (SAIPEM, AVEON, Nigerdock, EWT Nestoil, SHI MCI Yard, MG Vowgas Yard) with a combined nameplate capacity of 250,000 metric tons per annum, and Floating Production Storage and Offloading installation (Egina FPSO), Lagos, the largest of its type in Africa.

Others are establishment and strategic positioning of start-up companies under Project 100; the Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGAPS) under which low-cost manufacturing hubs for equipment components and spares are being built; completion and commissioning of a 50 million standard cubic feet gas processing plant and 300 mmscfd gas gathering hub for gas supply into the OB-3 pipeline in Kwale, Delta State, in partnership with Nedo Gas; over 14 million manhours of training covering mandatory sea-time experience, subsea systems, software and hardware modules and enterprise development, and targeted interventions in selected universities across the country.

Earlier in opening remarks, NCDMB’s Manager, Legal Services, Mr Naboth Onyesoh, Esq, expressed appreciation for the large turnout for the event, noting that judges and lawyers deserve to know what NCDMB is and how it works, just as knowledge of its enabling law is important.

Earlier, the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalaye Fubara, had declared open the Sensitization Workshop, themed “Philosophy and Imperative of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act,” with commendation of the NCDMB “for being alive to its statutory responsibilities.” Represented by the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Zacchaeus Adangor, he said, “the intendment of the NOGICD Act is laudable” and that “implementation is crucial,” requiring boldness and courage.

The State Chief Judge, His Lordship, Hon. Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, in his own goodwill message noted that the “benefits of the workshop to Judges are enormous.” According to him, adjudication in oil and gas requires understanding of the workings of NCDMB, the implementing agency, the industry as well as relevant operational guidelines.” He said, “This workshop will remain evergreen in the annals of the State Judiciary.”   

The day’s activities were rounded off with a panel presentation entitled “Legal Challenges of Implementing the NOGICD Act: The Role of the Bar and Bench.” The resource persons were Barr. M.B. Umar, Director, Legal Services, NCDMB; Hon. Justice Boma Diepreye; Professor Ibibia Lucky Worika; Dr. William Arugu; Mr. Franklin Gogo Dienye, and Barr. Sammie Somiari (SAN). The moderator was Professor Pereowei Subai.   

Plaques of Appreciation were presented to the Chief Judge and the representative of the State Governor by NCDMB’s Director, Corporate Services, Mr. Patrick Daziba Obah. The latter, in closing thoughts, thanked the Chief Judge for demonstrating good leadership and making the workshop a success. Thanks were extended to all who participated. His parting word was, “Capacity building is the beginning and end of Nigerian Content.”  

The workshop for judicial officers was part of the agency’s sustained effort to raise awareness on the NOGICD Act among critical stakeholders in the oil and gas industry. Engr Wabote said the event in Port Harcourt was “in line with similar workshops organized for Federal High Court Judges, Justices of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court Justices in 2018 and 2019 in partnership with the National Judicial Institute.”