…PR
The
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and
Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Kesiye
Wabote has advised that making unending changes
to the structures set up by Petroleum Industry Act 2021 could
kill the confidence of investors and stall new projects in the oil and
gas sector.
Speaking on
Tuesday at a panel session at the recently concluded Nigerian Economic Summit
held in Abuja, the Executive Secretary explained that the PIA 2021
contains adequate provisions to ignite growth in the energy sector
and advised the Federal Government and
key stakeholders to avoid the temptation of tweaking
the law at every turn.
He hinted
that “policy somersaults kill the confidence of investors. Once a nation or
economic sector is known for trial-and-error initiatives, it makes the
investors adopt a wait-and-see attitude or move on to other entities.”
While
acknowledging the need to seek areas of
improvement, he cautioned that “it is injurious to the
investment climate if we are in a perpetual state of policy modifications or
amendment of laws that we are yet to even progress to full implementation.”
Wabote
remarked that it took the Nigerian oil and gas industry almost two decades to
pass the PIA, during which time many stakeholders of the industry blamed the
lack of passage of the then Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as the
reason for the lack of investment in the oil and gas industry.
He
charged players of the industry to complete ongoing projects and
deploy the provisions of the PIA to simulate the necessary growth
in the energy sector.
Dwelling on
ideas that would ignite the growth of the industry, the Executive
Secretary recommended timely decisions on lingering
issues on divestments, assignments and acquisitions, bid rounds,
inter-agency collaborations, sanctity of contracts, and others.
He also
canvassed for the speedy completion of the Dangote Refinery project and the
delivery of products into the economy.
Speaking
further, he listed the Presidential Power Initiative in partnership with
Siemens and the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries as
ignition points for growth, stressing need to get them across the finish line.
“The construction of the 615km AKK Pipeline is an ignition point for growth, we
need to keep at it till completion, otherwise, it remains a pipe dream,” he
added.
The Executive Secretary also harped on the need to set Local Content practice as a National Agenda to address recurring dislocations in the economy. He recalled that Presidential Executive Order 003 requires that MDAs must give preference to made-in-Nigeria brands in eight products. He pointed out that the implementation has been abandoned in public procurement. He insisted that the successes recorded in the practice of Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry needed to be replicated and sustained across other sectors of our economy to promote local manufacturing and productivity.