Unremitted Funds: NCDMB recovers $100m from oil companies – Newstrends
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Unremitted Funds: NCDMB recovers $100m from oil companies

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The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote has disclosed that the board recovered close to $100 million from oil and services companies in unremitted levy to the Nigerian Content Development Fund in seven years.

Wabote, who disclosed this at the opening of the 2021 Nigerian Oil and Gas conference, NOG, in Abuja on Monday said the money was recovered from the companies in the undisputed obligations from the Third-Party Forensic Audit of remittances between years 2010 to 2017.

He warned companies which are failing to comply with the provisions of the NOGICD Act that the agency was not helpless and would impose necessary sanctions on defaulters.

He stressed that in line with the law, priority would continue to be given to Nigerian companies in granting oil and gas licences, award of oil blocks, and other contracts in the industry.

“We continue to deploy the provisions of the NOGICD Act to fortify the oil and gas industry against these attacks such as Sections 3, 12, and 28 of the NOGICD Act which state that first consideration shall be given to Nigerian operators in the award of blocks and licenses, to Nigerian goods and services in the evaluation of bids, and for the employment and training of Nigerians in any project executed in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

“Let me emphasize that this is the law of the land and the default mindset for any reputable local or international operator or service provider is to comply”, he added.

Wabote cautioned those companies which consider cost first in determining where projects are manufactured that after exporting jobs, they may return to find the environment less conducive for their operation.

“Great companies self-regulate to do the right thing within the confines of their business environment thus making their interface with agencies of government seamless.”

Local Content must not be seen as a cost centre but part of the business with several benefits to all nations, businesses, and investors involved in the practice.

“Let me highlight that we are not helpless or oblivious of what to do as a regulator when it comes to dealing with recalcitrant defaulters. We are very pragmatic and only resort to the deployment of our powers when all efforts to bring offending parties to compliance fail”.

He praised Total Energies for having faith in Nigeria by executing the bulk of the Egina project in-country thereby boosting Nigeria’s fabricating capacity from 60,000MT to 250,000MT.

He said the board would continue to support local companies despite the attainment of 35 percent local content in the industry.

“Let me also highlight that we have put in place intervention funds to serve as buffer to mitigate the impact of shocks from the oil and gas cycles.

“Section 104 of the Act created the Nigerian Content Development Fund and we have set up a total of 400 million dollars with $300million being managed by BOI and $100 million being managed by NEXIM Bank”.

He urged companies operating in the industry to take full advantage of the commencement of the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to export to other African countries.

In his presentation, the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water, Total E & P Nig. Limited, Mr. Victor Bandele, acknowledged that local content in the 18 oil producing countries in Africa remains very low.

Bandele however pointed out that Total E&P has played major role in growing local content in Nigeria with several high profile projects.

He said: “Despite the challenging environment that we operate in as an industry, TotalEnergies remains committed to investing in the country because we strongly believe in the potential of Nigeria and Nigerians.

“This is why we have been quite active in recent years even in the face of understandable uncertainties. We completed Egina at the end of 2018 and have been progressing well with the development of Ikike project”.

He noted that “there is no debating the fact that oil-rich African countries have not benefited satisfactorily from the exploitation of their hydrocarbons.

“Though they receive significant fiscal benefits from the export of oil and gas, the development linkages to other economic sectors remain marginal in terms of domestic value added and job creation.

“This is why there is a renewed zeal among these countries to try and extract as much value as they can from the Oil and Gas Industry.

“This is also why many of these oil-producing African nations have adopted local content policies as a development strategy aimed at increasing the benefits from the Industry.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

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Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo

Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has directed the immediate freezing of all state-owned bank accounts.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, the governor stated that the accounts would remain frozen until further notice.

He instructed commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to comply with the order immediately or face severe consequences.

The statement reads: “All state bank accounts with commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with this order and ensure that not a single naira is withdrawn from government coffers until further notice.

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“Heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies must ensure full compliance without delay.

“Following necessary investigations and reconciliations, the governor will take appropriate action and decide on the way forward. For now, this order remains in effect.”

Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to revert the name of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges to its previous title, the Ministry of Works, a change made during the Godwin Obaseki administration.

“It is odd to name a government institution the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, especially when not a single bridge was built by the previous administration — not even a pedestrian bridge.

“In the coming days, we will examine further actions taken by the previous administration and make decisions that serve the best interests of the state,” the statement added.

 

Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

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Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

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Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi has criticized the widely discussed two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling it a “deception.”

His remarks followed a recent summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh, where President Bola Tinubu and other leaders condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged an end to hostilities.

In an interview with Daily Trust at his Kaduna residence, Gumi argued, “This Two-State Solution is a deception. No Israeli will allow a Palestinian to survive, and Palestinians will never allow Israel to survive.

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The only solution is to dissolve the two states and create a democratically electable region.”

Gumi commended the OIC’s support for Palestine, noting that Muslims and Arabs worldwide increasingly see the treatment of Palestinians as “genocide” and accuse Israel of human rights abuses.

He also called for a return to the pre-1948 structure, where Palestinians, Jews, and Christians lived together, suggesting a single, inclusive state that allows peaceful coexistence.

“When I hear people talking about Two-State Solutions, I know they are just deceiving themselves,” Gumi added, advocating for a unified region where people of all faiths can live together, similar to the multi-faith coexistence seen in countries like the United States.

 

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

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Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

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Olusola Ebiseni

Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

The Labour Party candidature of Olusola Ebiseni for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State has been nullified.

The nullification follows the sacking of Ebiseni by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday.

The governorship election of the southwest State will hold on Saturday, 16 November 2024.

The judgement disqualifying Ebiseni was unanimously delivered by the three members of the panel and read out by the chairman of the panel, Justice Adebukola Banjoko.

The judgment granted the prayer of the Labour Party who preferred the case against Ebiseni.

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Justice Banjoko held that, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”

Justice Banjoko further stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment would be provided to the parties involved in the appeal as soon as possible for their review.

Recall that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the November 16 Ondo State governorship elections.

Justice Nwite confirmed that the second primary election conducted by the Labour Party, which resulted in Ebiseni and Awude being selected as candidates, was valid and should be upheld by INEC.

However, the appellate court has now overturned the judgment of the trial court’s judgment.

 

Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

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