In a decisive move to streamline the oil and gas contracting process and reduce production costs, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has issued the NCEC Application Guidance Notes, aimed at eliminating intermediaries that lack technical capacity.
Effective as of December 2025, these new protocols operationalize Presidential Directives designed to ensure only genuine service providers with demonstrable assets and personnel participate in the industry.
The NCDMB emphasized that the unmerited possession of Nigerian Content Equipment Certificates (NCECs) has historically contributed to significant contracting delays and allowed unqualified middlemen to infiltrate the bid evaluation process.
By mandating that applications be matched strictly to on-ground capacities, the Board intends to tackle the submission of forged documents, non-existent offices, and the under-declaration of personnel.
A critical pillar of this reform is the total prohibition of third-party agents or middlemen in the application process. Service companies are now directly liable for all claims and documentations submitted via their assigned login details on the NOGIC-JQS portal.
The Board has ruled out the transfer of certificates, stating that NCECs are not transferable and cannot be obtained by separate subsidiaries using the same shared assets or documentation.
Executive Secretary Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe warned that the Board will conduct rigorous facility visits to verify that applicants possess the functional equipment and dedicated resources claimed in their submissions.
Under these new rules, certificates will no longer be granted in anticipation of local capacity; instead, they require proof of existing, operable assets.
The Board also cautioned that the submission of falsified documents will now attract both legal consequences and administrative punishments to ensure a transparent, merit-based contracting environment.