By Ali Elias
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has strongly denied claims that it spent N9.9 billion on consultancy services, describing the allegations as baseless and misleading. In a statement released by its Corporate Communications Department, the Board criticized the spread of misinformation, noting that the alleged amount had inexplicably increased from N7.7 billion to N9.9 billion within a week.
Reaffirming its commitment to transparency and due process, the NCDMB emphasized that all expenditures are conducted in strict compliance with approved financial and procurement guidelines. The Board condemned what it described as a coordinated campaign of falsehoods by certain groups masquerading as civil society organizations, accusing them of deliberately misleading the public.
The full statement from the Board reads:
“The NCDMB wishes to alert the public that a sponsored group, CCSGG, masquerading as a coalition of civil society group for good governance are recycling the same bogus and unfounded allegations that were recently published against the operations of our agency.
“While we have dismissed these patently false allegations in a widely circulated press statement on Thursday, February 13, titled: ‘NCDMB Observes the Highest Standards of Accountability, Transparency, and Due Process in its Operations’, the purveyors of this evil campaign have gone ahead to recruit unsuspecting journalists across some national media to continue to peddle their lies.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to restate that: neither the Board nor the Executive Secretary spent the amount stated in the headline of the referenced statement.
“NCDMB organised a strategic workshop with heads of ministries, departments, and agencies of government that pertain to the oil and gas industry to interrogate and find areas of alignment in the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, in line with our Nigerian content 10-year strategic roadmap’s enabler on stakeholder collaboration and engagement. The workshop is held every two years and involves the leadership and senior management of those critical agencies, with a view to ensuring a harmonious policy and regulatory implementation by all agencies and institutions connected with the NOGICD Act implementation.
“Due process was followed and that all expenditures in relation to this strategic workshop and other projects of the board were made in accordance with approved financial and procurement guidelines.
“There was no such expenditure of N9.9 billion by the board for consultancy services. It is instructive to note that this figure has moved from N7.7 billion to this new figure within a week by these fake groups masquerading as civil society groups.
“S.B Capital Partners & Advisory Limited, engaged by the Board since 2018, offers credit review services for the NCDMB Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF) with Bank of Industry.
“S.B Capital Partners & Advisory Limited credit review is to determine economic viability and bankability of projects submitted to the Board through the Bank of Industry (BoI) on our Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF).
“The Board conducts all its operations within the highest levels of transparency, which is why we have for three consecutive years won the award from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) as the number one agency in transparency and efficiency amongst all federal ministries, departments and agencies.”