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Executive Secretary NCDMB, Felix Ogbe
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has stated that it has eliminated middlemen from the oil and gas value chain and reduced the contracting cycle to six months, following Presidential Directives issued by President Bola Tinubu in March.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, stated this on Monday at a breakfast meeting in Lagos.
Ogbe confirmed that NCDMB had complied fully with the Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements, 2024 (EO 41), which sought to ensure that only local service companies that have domiciled proven capacities and capabilities could participate in oil and gas tenders.
He said, “NCDMB has reduced its touch points and fast-tracked projects approval processes, in compliance with the Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines, 2024 (EO 42).”
According to Ogbe, the presidential directives and the board’s compliance were geared towards attracting new international and local investments, encouraging speedy development of oil and gas projects and improving the Nigerian economy.
The NCDMB executive secretary hinted at plans to launch a major initiative tagged “Back to the Creeks”, noting that the policy would take the impact and contribution of local content implementation to oil-producing communities and other hinterlands nationwide.
The NCDMB boss dismissed insinuations that local content implementation increased the cost of producing crude oil in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Ogbe further clarified that the major drivers of the increased cost of crude oil production were downtime and disruptions in operations caused by community issues or technical problems.
Other challenges responsible for extraneous costs included the cost of providing security and the activities of briefcase contractors, he said.
Ogbe added that NCDMB was working intently to create an enabling environment for international oil companies to make final investment decisions for new projects and was evolving policies to support indigenous oil and gas service companies.
In his comments, the Director of Corporate Services and Capacity Building, NCDMB, Dr Ama Ikuru, charged media stakeholders to report Nigeria positively, to attract investments in the oil and gas sector.
NCDMB’s Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Abdulmalik Halilu, rated the performance of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund as over 90 per cent, judging by the percentage of access by qualified companies and repayment by the borrowers.
He equally hinted that the executive secretary of the board had constituted a team to review the Community Contractors Fund, which was a poor-performing product under the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund.
On his part, the Director of Projects Certification and Authorisation of NCDMB, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele stated that the board was equally supporting companies seeking to fast-track gas investments to take advantage of the Presidential Directive on tax incentives, exemptions and remissions for the oil and gas companies.
