MEDIATRACNET
The forensic audit of the Nigerian Content Fund remittances on undisputed obligations by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) between 2010 and 2017 has resulted in the recovery of about $100 million, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, has disclosed.
Wabote spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the opening of the “Nigerian Content Seminar”, at the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference in Abuja on Monday.
“In respect of the non-remittance of the NCDMB fund, I wish to announce that we have recovered about $100million of undisputed obligations from forensic audit remittances between 2010 and 2017. The disputed obligations are being closed down to bring this exercise to a close.
“Let me use this opportunity to announce that the third-party forensic audit remittances for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. Upon completion, this should bring our books up to date on the backlog of remittances,” Wabote said.
He said about 80 percent of operators and service providers have migrated to the newly inaugurated NCDMB fund remittance platform and the remaining 20 percent are expected to follow suit.
Wabote said the inauguration of the remittance platform was part of NCDMB’s strategies to block the loopholes noticed in the past during remittances by various companies.
The NCDMB boss noted that efforts have been intensified to also ensure that Nigeria’s economy remained stable even when the variance of the oil industry comes knocking.
He listed domestic refining of crude oil and local manufacturing as key variables that would improve the country’s economic indices.
On the second aspect of the NOG Conference on the theme “economic stability”, the NCDMB boss said the fact about the oil and gas industry is that it is very dynamic. “Oil boom is usually followed by oil burst, with attendant impact on our economy. So, refining most of our crude oil locally will create jobs, conserve foreign exchange, either to use for import or generate foreign exchange from the export of petroleum products and derivatives.
He said local manufacturing of goods and services would ensure self-sufficiency from reliance on imported goods, adding that in these two areas, the country has relied on Section 70 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content (NOGIC) Act, whose provisions would continue to be deployed to fortify the oil and gas industry against attacks.
“This Act mandates the NCDMB to assist local contractors and Nigerian companies to develop their capabilities and capacities, to foster the attainment of the growth of developing the Nigerian content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” Wabote said.
He commended the National Assembly for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), noting that the Bill would fortify the oil and gas industry. (NAN)
