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Tinubu’s executive orders will boost local patronage, fast-track contracting timelines — NCDMB ES

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The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe has clarified that the Executive orders issued by President Tinubu on the oil and gas sector will boost local patronage and fast-track contracting timelines.

This is as the NCDMB also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for announcing the Presidential Executive Orders directed at incentivising the Nigerian oil and gas industry, encouraging new investments in the sector, reducing contracting costs and timelines, and promoting cost efficiency in local content requirements.

The Executive Orders are the Oil and Gas Companies (Tax Incentives, Exemption, Remission, ETC) Order 2024; Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements, 2024 (EO 41); and Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines, 2024 (EO 42).

Speaking at the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the Executive Secretary stated that the policy directives had reinforced the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and codified the Service Level Agreements (SLA), which the NCDMB first introduced in May 2017 to fast-track approvals for the Nigeria LNG Limited Train 7 project, before expanding it to the entire industry after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and five international oil-producing companies in September 2023.

Engr. Ogbe clarified that the Presidential Executive Orders did not whittle down the powers of the NCDMB or abrogate the schedule of the NOGICD Act. Instead, according to him, the Executive Order 41 mandates the Board to ensure the patronage of local companies with domiciled proven capacities and capabilities to achieve cost competitiveness and project delivery within schedule.

He equally pointed out that Executive Order 42 reemphasised NCDMB’s obligation to fast-track approval processes as required by the SLA and section 23 of the NOGICD Act, which mandates the Board to review projects’ documentation within 10 days and advise the concerned operating company.

He assured that the Board would comply with the terms of the Presidential Executive Orders, insisting that the Board had always been pragmatic with its implementation of the NOGICD Act and mindful of the cost competitiveness of projects and schedules.

He maintained that the objectives of the Executive Orders and the SLAs were directed to shorten the oil industry’s contracting cycle to six months or less, engender speedy development of new projects, contribute to increased oil production, and improve the national economy, expressing delight that President Tinubu had put his stamp of authority on the noble objectives of the SLAs.

He commended Mr. President for acknowledging the giant strides recorded in Nigerian Content development, particularly the impressive capacities built by local oil and gas service companies in key areas of the industry and the substantial benefits that had accrued to the Nigerian economy and her citizens through local content implementation.

The NCDMB boss assured that the agency would continue to serve as a business enabler and maintain the recognition conferred by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which awarded the Board the most efficient agency amongst all Federal Government’s MDAs in 2022 and the PLATINUM rating by the Bureau for Public Service Reforms in recognition of the self-imposed reforms of Board’s processes.

Energy

Alake unveils gender strategy for mining, steel sector

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The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has unveiled a document for Women in Mining in Nigeria (WIMIN) strategy document.

Speaking at the event, he described the strategy as a significant mile stone in the sector.

He said that the move was a demonstration of the commitment of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD)‘ and Ministry of Steel Development in fostering diversity.

He said that the strategy is aimed at promoting gender equality and women‘s empowerment, adding that its focused on driving productivity for the nations‘ sustainable development.

“It also focuses on improving the opportunities for women to benefit from both sectors sustainably in policy, regulatory, operational, and commercial (large scale, medium scale, small scale, and artisanal levels), and value and supply chain roles.

“This strategy is not just a document but a call to action and a blueprint for all stakeholders to create a more inclusive and gender-balanced mining and steel sector.

“It provides a guideline and framework to guide both ministries, their agencies, and stakeholders to integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment priorities in their policies, programmes, and initiatives,” he said.

He acknowledged the indispensable contributions of women to the success and sustainability of the mining sector, saying that their talents, expertise, and perspectives are critical to the success and growth of the industry.

According to him, Nigeria is not immune from the biases perpetuated against women in these two sectors.

In addressing the situation, he said that the Federal Government has prioritised gender equity and female participation in its “Roadmap for the Growth and Development of the Nigerian Mining Industry.”

He said as part of the efforts of MSMD and Ministry of Steel Development to implement the roadmap, the Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification (MinDiver) engaged a consultancy to develop the gender strategy.

He said that to achieve the objectives of the strategy, its institutional capacity would be strengthened for effective gender mainstreaming.

He added that that women’s participation in leadership and governance roles within the mining sector and communities would be increased.

“Promoting women’s economic empowerment and rights and eliminating all barriers (structural and systemic) that hinder women’s meaningful participation, access and control over mining resources and benefits,” he said.

The Minister added that they were committed to building partnerships across a wide range of stakeholders in achieving the vision of the strategy.

He said that the WIMIN strategy was firmly rooted in the principles of equality, diversity, and empowerment, and  a call to action for stakeholders mobilisation toward a more inclusive and gender-balanced industry.

Earlier in her remarks, the National President of WIMIN, Dr Janet Adeyemi, described the launch of the strategy as an opportunity to galvanise support and implement actions to address the entrenched gender disparities within the mining and steel sectors.

Represented by the National Secretary, Mrs Emily Ofodile, she said that women within these industries continue to encounter multifaceted barriers that hinder their full participation and advancement.

On her part, the Permanent Secretary of MSMD, Dr Mary Ogbe, urged, women to be change agents at all levels, and urged all organisations to have gender focal persons to help in coordinating all related matters.

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Energy

Tree4Life Project: NEPL/Seplat JV, Edo sign reforestation agreement

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The NNPC Exploration and Production Ltd/Seplat Energy Joint Venture and the Edo State Government have signed an agreement that will see the state government allocate 6,000 hectares of land from its protected forest reserves to enable a large-scale tree planting initiative by Seplat Energy Plc.

This is in furtherance to the Seplat Tree4Life Initiative and the Edo State Government’s identification of the need to increase forest cover and carbon sequestration efforts within the region.

Seplat Energy has been selected as the partner to implement this reforestation project, which aims to plant millions of indigenous trees on the allocated land over the next five (5) years. This project represents a significant investment in environmental conservation and sustainable development for the state.

Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony, which happened in Edo State Government House, the Managing Director, Seplat West Limited, Seplat Energy, Ayodele Olatunde, said the partnership will contribute in the global efforts around mitigating the effects of climate change, whilst providing economic, social, health and other environmental benefits to the region.

“This will stir more advocacy as far as climate change is concerned and put the Edo State Government with the Seplat JV on the map as change agents. The partnership is well aligned with our Tree4Life Initiative and has the capacity to boost our economy and the environment; advance our soil health and drive carbon capture; preserve our ecosystem; enhance biodiversity; create jobs; conserve our forests; and promote physical and mental wellbeing of our people,” Olatunde said.

The Commissioner for Environment & Sustainability, Edo State, Joshua Omokhodion, said the synergy between Edo State and the Seplat JV is a huge attempt at mitigating the impacts of climate change in Nigeria.

“Beyond the economics of this move, the science of it is very important to us because it is an attempt to deliberately create an ambience that will be conducive for humans and other creatures here.”

The Director, External Affairs & Social Performance, Seplat Energy, Chioma Afe, in her address, thanked the Edo State Government for partnering with the NEPL/Seplat JV on this sustainable journey of reforestation.

She said, “This will drive forward our shared goals of environmental conservation and sustainable land use.”

“These 6,000 hectares of land being allocated today, we believe, will provide a major boost to efforts at increasing tree cover and also to sequester carbon in our region. We believe also that this will not only tackle climate change, but will promote the local economy as well as local wildlife. The agreement demonstrates the NEPL/Seplat JV strong commitment to supporting impactful environmental projects,” Afe explained.

The Managing Director, NEPL, Nicolas Foucart, represented by Mr. Uzoma Ezulu, DM Operations Management Seplat, NEPL, said the partnership between the state government and NEPL/Seplat JV is a laudable response to the global warming crisis.

“The world is turning around for the worst; human activities in the name of development have done more harm than good to the environment. The Tree4Life project, therefore, is a conservative effort for all of us,” he said. Teasoo Consulting Limited was also among the facilitators of the agreement signing ceremony,” Nicolas said.

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Energy

Fuel queues will end soon — Reps assure Nigerians

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The House of Representatives, has reassured that the long queues at filling stations in the country, will soon fizzle out soon.

Chairman, Petroleum Downstream, Rep. Ikenga Ugochinyere, said this at a joint news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

“We hereby express our concerns over the temporary presence of fuel queues in petrol stations across the country.

“However, we are convinced that this is temporary based on our investigation, and in a couple of days, we shall get over it,” he said.

Flanked by Rep. Henry Okojie, the Chairman, Petroleum Midstream, Ugochinyere said that investigations had revealed that the scarcity was artificial.

“We have discovered that there is availability of petrol products. We have it on good authority that we have in our storage facilities at least, about 1.5 billion liters of petrol,” he said.

He said that 1.5 billion litres can last for 30 days.

“We have gotten assurances from the regulators in the distribution value chain that these bottlenecks have been cleared. In the course of this public holiday, more grounds will be covered.

“From our findings, the issues that necessitated the disruptions that led to the appearance of fuel queues in petrol stations have been cleared.

“They said that it would take a few more days for things to return to normalcy, while calling on Nigerians not to panic over this development.

“We have gotten assurances from the regulators and the unions that these challenges will be cleared in a few days,” he said.

Ugochinyere added, “It will require more time, like two to three days, for products to be distributed to all stations nationwide.

“As a committee that is charged with downstream and midstream oversight, we have been monitoring this development.”

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