Local Content Development and Enforcement Bill passes second reading in House of Reps
- The Nigerian Local content development and enforcement bill 2020 has passed second reading in the House of Representatives
- The bill is an initiative of Honourable Legor Idagbo, chairman, house committee on Nigerian content development and monitoring
- The bill primarily seeks to consolidate on the gains made in implementing local content in the oil and gas industry
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The Nigerian Content development initiatives received a boost on Wednesday, May 20 as the House of Representatives, debated and read the Nigerian Local content development and enforcement bill 2020 a second time.
Legit.ng gathered that the bill is an initiative of Honourable Legor Idagbo, chairman, house committee on Nigerian content development and monitoring.
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The proposed bill primarily seeks to consolidate on the gains made in implementing local content in the oil and gas industry pursuant to the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, and providing the legal basis for enforcement of Presidential Executive Orders 003 and 005 on local content signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The bill states that the gains so far made as a result of the enactment of the NOGICD Act 2010 is record-breaking, stressing that trillions in naira terms have been saved as a result of local participation in the oil and gas industry.
It further states that presently, Nigerians are involved in so many sub-sectors of the Nigerian Petroleum Industry as a result of strict monitoring of the activities of companies that before the coming into effect of the NOGICD Act 2010, usually ignore local labour and materials in the exploitation of our petroleum resources.
“Therefore, extending the local content requirements beyond the petroleum industry to some other critical sectors like ICT, manufacturing, agriculture, power, solid minerals, construction, health etc.,
“It is now imperative as the country must look inward to assert and ensure her economic independence especially in the light of the current COVID-19 induced global economic scenario, which makes it imperative for countries to look inwards for economic growth and sustainability.
“The socio-economic benefits of the bill include the promotion of local manufacturing and economic diversification with a focus on ICT, agriculture, solid minerals, hydrocarbon refining, power and manufacturing, Local processing of hydrocarbon resources, the export of processed mineral & agricultural commodities, local manufacturing of equipment, machinery, spares, chemicals, ICT hardware, development of software etc.
“It also includes provision for standardisation of locally made goods and locally sourced raw materials to make them competitive in the international market with a preference for Nigerian made goods and services in all public procurements,” Honourable Idagbo stated.
Other key provisions of the bill include:
1. The creation of a robust R&D ecosystem to drive homegrown technology development
2. Job creation drive to address unemployment
3. Capacity building to develop resilient local supply chain
4. Provide Sustainable Funding for local content among others.
Meanwhile, participants at an online workshop organised to review key issues that require urgent reforms in the oil and gas industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic have called for accelerated passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
The workshop organised by the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) on Tuesday, May 19, drew participants from various civil society groups as well as the media.
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