Oredola Adeola

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Governing Council has been officially inaugurated, with Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State, Petroleum Resources,Oil, as the Chairman and Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Executive Secretary and Secretary.

The Advisors Reports gathered that the Council was inaugurated on Thursday at the PTDF conference room in Abuja.

Other members include the Executive Vice President, Gas, Power, and New Energy, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mrs. Oritsemyiwa Eyesan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, the representative of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Bekearedebo Augusta Warrens and the Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr. Nicholas Odinuwe.

Others include the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas, Chairman of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering (COREN), Prof. Sadiq Abubakar and the representative of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF), Dr. Raphael Samuel.

Senator Lokpobiri, in his welcome address urged the council to sustain the momentum of progress achieved by the NCDMB since the enactment of the Act in 2010.

The Minister of States Petroleum Resources (Oil) therefore emphasized his commitment as both minister and chairman to their collective success.

He noted that the appointment of the Council members was based on their expertise and experience in various fields of endeavour.

According to him, the NOGICD Act provided for institutional representation on the Governing Council, to enable the agency to benefit from the expertise and professionalism of key organisations and change the narrative in the oil and gas industry.

Senator Lokpobiri further confirmed that NCDMB had recorded tremendous achievements in the oil and gas industry in the last 13 years of its existence and had achieved many of the set objectives.

He therefore solicited the cooperation of the new Council members to raise the bar of Nigerian Content development.

He added that many African countries are coming to understudy Nigeria’s Local Content model, and it was incumbent on Nigeria to deepen the level of implementation and stay ahead of other nations.

Speaking further, the Minister stated that one of the core mandates of the NCDMB is to build indigenous human and infrastructural capacities so that Nigerians can play critical roles in the oil and gas industry.

He highlighted that NCDMB was one of the few agencies chaired by the Minister, attributing it to the importance of the organisation to the national economy. He also mentioned that section 75 of the NOGICD Act mandates the Governing Council to manage and superintend the affairs of the Board among other duties.

Engr. Ogbe on his part, expressed appreciation to the President and the Minister for the opportunity, pledging to collaborate with stakeholders to achieve Nigerian Content expectations of 70 percent by 2027.

Mr Olorundare Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in his remark on behalf of the newly constituted council, thanked the Minister for the nomination and promised to uphold the confidence reposed in them.

He affirmed that NCDMB has performed creditably, and Nigerian Content implementation had become the envy of many countries.

He said: “A lot of value has been added to the oil and gas industry and the Nigerian economy and I thank those who originated the NOGICD Act. We will do our best and we will continue the good work started by the NCDMB.”