…Goes After SEEPCO Over Infraction
Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has highlighted key aspects of its local content implementation showing that through enforcement and compliance oversight, the Board ensured that 609 technical positions were nigerianised for the period 2020-2024
The Board, said it is excited to note that Nigerians are executing complex functions in the floating production and storage and offloading (FPSO) platforms like Bonga, Agbami, USAN, AKPO, Egina, etc.
The Agency further notes that Nigerian oil and gas workers performed almost all operations in the oil and gas industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and kept the industry afloat, after most expatriates returned to their home countries.
These feats were accomplished through NCDMB’s strategic implementation and enforcement of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, particularly the Expatriate Quota, Succession Plan and Deployment of Expatriates Guidelines and Expatriate Work Temporary Work Permit Guidelines.
The NCDMB, provided the information following comments made by the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr. Festus Osifo, during the union’s recent protest at the headquarters of Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO), at Victoria Island, Lagos, over alleged anti-labour practices and expatriate abuses by the company.
It commended the PENGASSAN leader for acknowledging that qualified Nigerian personnel are occupying top leadership and technical positions in most international and indigenous operating oil and gas companies, and are performing creditably in those roles.
The highlighted successes were also enabled by the several Nigerian Content capacity building interventions that prepared and placed qualified Nigerians in key positions in the oil and gas industry.
“We are delighted that PENGASSAN served as a whistle blower over the alleged expatriate quota abuse by the management of Sterling Oil, and we assure the union and the general public that we would investigate the matter exhaustively and take necessary actions.” it said.
The NCDMB said it had sanctioned SEEPCO a few years ago for gross violations of the NOGICD Act and have been engaging the company for the same reasons.
Providing more interventions in the case of infractions by the firm, the Board recalled that in 2017, it identified five expatriates deployed by SEEPCO without obtaining the relevant NCDMB approvals.
As a result, NCDMB penalized the company for this non-compliant deployment of expatriates. To remediate this, SEEPCO trained five Nigerians in Marine Engineering and Subsurface Drilling Engineering for nine months.
Further in 2018, NCDMB identified 402 expatriates deployed by SEEPCO without approval and also discovered projects, contracts, and purchase orders from multiple projects that were awarded and executed without appropriate approvals.
In line with its duty, the NCDMB penalized SEEPCO for these infractions and directed SEEPCO and its affiliates to disengage the 402 expatriates and provide evidence of their disengagement and exit to the Board, as well as commence and comply with the NCDMB Expatriate Quota application process.
The firm was also instructed to comply with the Board’s requirements for tendering and awarding projects, contracts, and purchase orders and complete the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) reconciliation exercise and pay outstanding remittances.
In addition it was asked to submit up-to-date statutory reports on Nigerian Content and comply with the review process, train and employ 40 Nigerians as part of the remediation/penalty.
The Board, however regretted that SEEPCO ignored those directives until the it commenced legal proceedings against the firm, in line with section 68 of the NOGICD Act.
In 2020, SEEPCO sought an out-of-Court settlement and committed to addressing the compliance issues and undertaking the remediation and later completed the training of 40 Nigerians in 2022, but the employment commitment was not achieved.
Additionally, SEEPCO made only partial NCDF remittances and has refused to respond and comply with other Nigerian Content requirements.
In 2023, SEEPCO obtained Expatriate Quota approval from the Board for three positions, and from its records SEEPCO has been granted only seven expatiate positions between 2017 to 2023.
The Board has requested for statutory submissions from SEEPCo and scheduled performance review session for March 2025.
The NCDMB Expatriate Quota approvals and compliance and enforcement is applicable to only companies with investments or executing projects in the oil and gas industry. Non-oil and gas Expatriate Quota utilization does not come to the Board, but rather directly to the Ministry of Interior.
The Board said it is committed to the effective implementation and enforcement of the NOGICD Act in the oil and gas sector, with a view to creating employment opportunities for Nigerians, deepening Nigerian Content and boosting the economy.
The Board vowed to sanction firms that flagrantly flout provisions of the NOGICD Act, while it welcomed collaboration of stakeholders, including oil unions towards achieving the intendments of the NOGICD Act.