Oil companies operating in Nigeria’s upstream sector have been directed to obtain compliance certificates to verify their one per cent remittance to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).
   
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) introduced the Nigeria Content Compliance Certificate System to strengthen adherence to local content requirements for remittances into the fund.
   
The initiative was unveiled at a two-day sensitisation workshop in Lagos to promote transparency and boost indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry.
   
Section 104 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010 established the NCDF to finance the implementation of Nigerian content development in the oil and gas sector.
   
The Act mandates that one per cent of every contract awarded to any operator, contractor, subcontractor, alliance partner or any entity involved in any project, operation, activity or transaction in the upstream sector must be deducted at source and paid into the NCDF. The fund is managed by the NCDMB to support projects and initiatives that grow local capacity in the industry.
   
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, who represented the organisation at the event, described the compliance certificate as a crucial instrument to ensure industry-wide conformity.

Ogbe said the certificate was developed to guarantee that local content requirements are fully implemented in oil and gas operations.
   
“With the introduction of the Compliance Certificate, companies now have an objective standard to demonstrate conformity, while the board is better positioned to ensure regulatory oversight,” he said.
    
He stressed that the system would only succeed if stakeholders were adequately informed, adding that the sensitisation forum offered a chance for practical engagement and clarification.