The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says it wishes to inform the public about the recent recycled and unfounded allegations being propagated by a group known as the Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance (CCSGG).

According to the Board, these allegations, previously debunked after an online magazine Sahara Reporters wrote an article about the allegations, have been resurrected by the same group believed to be masquerading as a coalition of civil society organisations targeting the agency’s operations.

This group, says the NCDMB’s corporate communications department in a press statement, has also leveraged the platform of some unsuspecting journalists in various national media to perpetuate these falsehoods.

Previously, in an earlier release eight days before the latest one, titled: “NCDMB Observes the Highest Standards of Accountability, Transparency, and Due Process in Its Operations,” came out, the Board thoroughly addressed and dismissed these claims of financial recklessness, as baseless.

The Sahara Reporters’ headline that brought this about partly reads that NCDMB Boss Ogbe Spends ₦7Billion On Consultancy, Over ₦580Million On 5-Day London Training, Logistics, Allowances, but all these were quashed.

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However, the way NCDMB sees things, it seems the purveyors of this evil campaign are relentless in their attempts to tarnish its reputation.

For clarity and to ensure the public is well-informed, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board wants these emphasised in what Meiza Nigeria was able to summarise in six salient points.

1. 1. 1. 1. Financial Integrity: Neither the Board nor the Executive Secretary has spent the exaggerated amounts alleged in the recent reports. All expenditures are made in strict compliance with approved financial and procurement guidelines.
         2. Strategic Workshop: In the 13 February statement, NCDMB had said that it organised a Strategic Workshop with Heads of relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of government involved in the oil and gas industry. It was a biennial workshop aiming to find areas of alignment for the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, as part of our Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap’s enabler on Stakeholder Collaboration and Engagement.
         3. Due Process Compliance: All expenditures related to the Strategic Workshop and other projects, says the Board, were made following due process, adhering to approved financial and procurement guidelines.
         4. Consultancy Services Allegations: The claim that the Board spent ₦9.9 billion on consultancy services is utterly false. It is telling that this figure has inflated from ₦7.7 billion to ₦9.9 billion within a week, as propagated by these spurious groups.
         5. S.B Capital Partners & Advisory Limited: This firm, NCDMB confirms, has been engaged by the Board since 2018 to offer credit review services for the Board’s Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF) in collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BoI). Their role, the agency adds, is to assess the economic viability and bankability of projects submitted for its review.
         6. Transparency and Efficiency: The Board says it prides itself in the aspect of transparency and has been recognised for three consecutive years by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) for being the number one agency in transparency and efficiency among all federal ministries, departments, and agencies.

Having made all these points, the local content board urged the media-scape and the public to disregard these recycled, baseless allegations by desperate individuals intent on undermining the NCDMB’s hard-earned reputation.

The NCDMB says it is aware of the sources and sponsors of these attacks and, in due time, they will be exposed.

Meiza Nigeria