NCDMB: Tinubu's Executive Orders Reinforced Implementation of Oil Industry Content Act, Incentivising Investments

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Felix Ogbe, has applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for announcing three Presidential Executive Orders directed at incentivising the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Ogbe, added that the three Presidential Executive Orders were also targeted at encouraging new investments in the sector, reducing contracting costs, timelines and promoting cost efficiency in local content requirements.

The Executive Secretary stated this yesterday at the Nigerian Content Tower, headquarters of NCDMB in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, according to a statement by the agency's corporate communications department.

The Executive Orders are the Oil and Gas Companies (Tax Incentives, Exemption, Remission, ETC) Order 2024; Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements, 2024 (EO 41); and Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines, 2024 (EO 42).

Ogbe, stated that the presidential policy directives reinforced the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and codified the Service Level Agreements (SLA), which the NCDMB first introduced in May 2017, to fast-track approvals for the Nigeria LNG Limited Train 7 project.

The Executive Secretary stated that the NCDMB later expanded the SLA to the entire oil and gas industry after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Limited (NNPCL) and five international oil-producing companies in September 2023.

Ogbe, clarified that the Presidential Executive Orders did not whittle down the powers of the NCDMB nor did it abrogate the schedule of the NOGICD Act.

Instead, according to him, the Executive Order 41 mandates the Board to ensure the patronage of local companies with domiciled proven capacities and capabilities to achieve cost competitiveness and project delivery within schedule.

He equally pointed out that the Executive Order 42 re-emphasised NCDMB's obligation to fast-track approval processes as required by the SLA and Section 23 of the NOGICD Act, which mandates the Board to review projects' documentation within 10 days and advise the concerned operating company.

He assured that the Board would comply with the terms of the Presidential Executive Orders, insisting that the Board had always been pragmatic with its implementation of the NOGICD Act and mindful of the cost competitiveness of projects and schedules.

He maintained that the objectives of the Executive Orders and the SLAs were directed to shorten the oil industry's contracting cycle to six months or less, engender speedy development of new projects, contribute to increased oil production, and improve the national economy.

Furthermore, he expressed delight that Tinubu had put his stamp of authority on the noble objectives of the SLAs, just as he commended the president for acknowledging the giant strides recorded in Nigerian Content development, particularly the impressive capacities built by local oil and gas service companies in key areas of the industry and the substantial benefits that had accrued to the Nigerian economy and her citizens through local content implementation.

The NCDMB boss assured that the agency would continue to serve as a business enabler and maintain the recognition conferred by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which awarded the Board the most efficient agency amongst all federal government's ministries, departments and Agencies (MDAs) in 2022 and the Platinum rating by the Bureau for Public Service Reforms in recognition of the self-imposed reforms of the Board's processes.