Stakeholders flay abuse of local content by oil firms

By Sanni Onogu, Abuja

Oil firms operating in the country were on Monday accused by industry stakeholders of flouting the local content law.

They called on the Federal Government to strictly enforce legislation dealing with local content for the good of the country.

The stakeholders spoke in Abuja during a public hearing on three Local Content Bills organized by the Joint Senate Committee on Local Content and House of Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring, in Abuja.

In his remarks, Chairman Senate on Local Content, Senator Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central), said the three Bills included the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010 (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Nigerian Local Content Enforcement Bill, 2020, and the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act, 2010 (Repeal and Re-Enactment Bill, 2020.

Folarin noted that the Bills seek to consolidate on the gains of the implementation of local content component in the oil and gas industry, pursuant to the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010.

“One of the Bills also seeks to provide the needed legal framework for the implementation of local content in other key sectors of the economy, including power, ICT, Construction, and Transportation.

“The enactment of this Bill, will no doubt, provide the legal basis for the enforcement of the Presidential Executive Order No. 5 of 5th February 2018, which seeks to improve local content procurement with regards to science, engineering, and technology components of the economy,” he said.

He added that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act, 2010 (Repeal and Re-Enactment Bill, 2020 seeks to repeal the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act 2010 and enact the Nigerian Local Content Development and Enforcement Commission to address the local content needs of all the sectors of the nation’s economy.

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President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who declared the public hearing opened, commended sponsors and supporters of the Bills for seeking to provide the precise legislative framework to tap the country’s many potentials.

According to him, “In adding value to our economy from the Oil and Gas industry, we are responding to the call to expand our gains beyond resource revenue.

“The significance of value is far-reaching in any system. They deal with substance. They are also of high quality, because it goes beyond a primary benefit, to the documentation of multiple avenues for content development.

“Content is value-adding, and enriching, aside from its ability to promote originality.

“Uniqueness further comes from good thinking, purposefulness, and consistency in policy outlines, which also depends on good laws.”

However, many of the stakeholders like Festus Osifo who represented oil and gas workers,
in their presentation, kicked against the usage of expatriates in the sectors beyond three years.

He accused most of the oil firms of flouting the local content Act through the usage of expatriates in different ways and called for more stringent laws against such acts.