NCDMB confirms spending ₦580m on workshop amid funding allegations
![The NCDMB has confirmed it organised a N580m strategic workshop as part of its 10‐Year Strategic Roadmap, stressing that all expenditures followed rigorous approval processes under the Public Procurement Act 2007 and the NOGICD Act 2010.](https://guardian.ng/wp-content/plugins/ventra-lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has confirmed that it recently organised a strategic workshop with heads of ministries, departments, and government agencies, an event which reportedly cost ₦580million. The workshop formed part of the Board’s 10‐Year Strategic Roadmap, developed in 2017, which aims to retain 70 per cent of oil and gas industry spend in-country by 2027, among other measurable targets.
In a press release rebutting a SaharaReporters’ story that it organised a “strategic workshop with heads of ministries, departments, and agencies of government” and that it allegedly misappropriated funds without the necessary approval from authorised levels as stipulated in the relevant procurement protocols and policies , the NCDMB maintained that all financial expenditures are carried out in strict compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007, the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, and other relevant statutes and policies.
“In carrying out this Strategic Workshop and every other activity of NCDMB, due process was followed in ensuring that all financial expenditures were made following approved financial and procurement guidelines,” the release stated.
The Board explained that one of the four enablers of its Strategic Roadmap is Stakeholder Collaboration and Engagement, designed to ensure harmonious policy and regulatory implementation by all relevant government agencies. It is against this backdrop that the Board has, every two years, organised a workshop to align efforts in the implementation of the NOGICD Act, 2010.
These remarks come after previous allegations by SaharaReporters, which, citing documents obtained from “reliable sources” close to the NCDMB, claimed that Executive Secretary Felix Omatsola Ogbe had approved the diversion of public funds from the Nigerian Content Development Fund’s US dollar account at the Central Bank of Nigeria into questionable contracts, totalling ₦7.7billion.
The NCDMB release did not address the broader allegations directly, but emphasised that all expenditures were rigorously approved under strict government oversight, reaffirming its commitment to accountability and transparency in its operations.
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