By Ejiofor Alike
As some upstream companies operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry are concerned about the judicious utilisation of their one per cent contributions to the Nigerian Content Intervention (NCI) Fund, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote has given an insight into why some companies have refused to contribute to the fund.
The NCI Fund is a pool made available by the NCDMB to meet the funding needs of manufacturers, service providers and other key players in the Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
In line with Section 104 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010, upstream operators in the oil and gas industry contribute one per cent of the value of every contract in the upstream sector into the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) from which the NCI Fund was created.
It was however, gathered that some upstream companies do not contribute to the NCI Fund.
But speaking to THISDAY on his strategies to make these companies to comply with the NOGICD Act by contributing to the Fund, Wabote stated that ignorance and lack of adequate knowledge of the implications of not contributing were largely responsible for the attitude of these companies.
