NCDMB Urges Indigenous Firms to Embrace Corporate Governance

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Simbi Wabote, has encouraged indigenous oil and gas firms to implement corporate governance guidelines to achieve sustainable growth.

He encouraged the companies to comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and consult regularly with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board for clarifications.

Wabote stated this when the Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited, Mr Ado Oseragbaje, and other officials of the firm visited him at the board’s liaison office recently in Abuja.

He said: “The lack of corporate governance is the biggest drawback of most indigenous oil and gas companies and deplored the situation where owners and directors of indigenous operating oil and gas firms serve as contractors to their company, thereby contravening corporate governance procedures and delivering poor services.”

Wabote warned that the prevalent negative practice could adversely affect the divestments of assets by some international oil and gas entities to indigenous firms.

He further underscored the need for oil companies to always comply with the provisions of the NOGICD Act, including the remittance of one per cent of the value of contracts to the Nigerian Content Development Fund as mandated by Section 104 of the NOGICD Act.

According to the NCDMB boss, the agency served as an enabler of business, emphasising that the agency’s regulatory decisions were always taken from a pragmatic point of view.

Meanwhile, he encouraged oil and gas companies to approach the board regularly for discussions, even when they had challenges complying with the NOGICD Act.

“If you hold quarterly meetings with the key teams of the board, we will support and guide you, and there will not be any hitches,” Wabote added.

In his remark, the Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited explained that the visit was initiated so they could brief the board on the steps the company had taken to address some of the Nigerian content non-compliance and other regulatory issues that had been flouted in the past.

“The company has executed the Nigerian Content noncompliance remediation programme and the launch of Nigerian Content Research and Development projects in Akwa Ibom State University and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State”, he said.

The Heritage chief announced that the joint venture partners had approved a drilling campaign on the asset, the first time such an activity would be carried out since Shell Petroleum Development Company divested from the asset.

Oseragbaje said: “We will be drilling four wells, and the project could go on for four years and would include a lot of projects, such as facility expansion and water treatment, among other activities.”

He also announced that the company was almost paying off its indebtedness to the NCDF and thanked the board for being lenient over the firm’s past infractions while supporting it in improving its performance and compliance.