Joel-Onowakpo Warns IOCs, Others As Senate Moves To Enforce Strict Local Content Compliance

BY SUNDAY EGEDE

THE Chairman Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Joel- Onowakpo Thomas, has issued a firm warning to lnternational Oil Companies (IOCs), service providers and regulators, declaring that Nigeria has entered a new era of strict, measur­able and verifiable enforce­ment of local content laws.

Delivering his address at the 14th Annual Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the lawmaker said the days of “paper compli­ance” with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, the Nigeria First Policy, and Presidential Executive Order No. 5 are over.

The theme of this year’s gathering, “Securing Invest­ments, Strengthening Local Content, and Scaling Energy Production,” he noted, could not have been more timely as Nigeria seeks to consoli­date gains in local content development and reposi­tion the energy sector for sustainable growth.

He was joined at the fo­rum by members of his committee who included the Vice Chairman, Senator Ede Dafinone, Senator Ab­dul Ningi, Senator Sharafa­deenAbiodun Ali, and Sena­tor Victor Umeh, alongside top government officials, captains of industry, and international partners.

Senator Joel-Onowakpo thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for provid­ing leadership to reposition Nigeria’s economic priori­ties towards empowering local industries and work­ers, describing local content development as central to the administration’s Re­newed Hope Agenda.

Expressing deep concern over what he described as a “systemic failure” in adhering to local content requirements, the senator lamented that Nigeria re­mains far behind in local ca­pacity development despite decades of oil exploration and the enactment of the NOGICD Act in 2010.

He disclosed that sev­eral complaints had been received, including the re­cruitment of an expatriate as Director of Procurement in Chevron, a position pre­viously held by a Nigerian.

Other complaints include Sahara Group’s refusal to remit the mandatory one per cent Human Capital Development (HCD) levy, misuse of HCD funds meant for training Nigerians, and allegations that operators are sidelining qualified citi­zens in employment and contract awards.

He stressed that the committee would summon companies and regulators where necessary and con­duct investigative hear­ings to address violations, saying “wherever there is negligence, we will act. And wherever the law is being ignored, we will correct it.”

The senator condemned widespread abuse of the HCD requirement, which mandates that one – three per cent of every oil and gas project above $1 million be dedicated to capacity devel­opment for Nigerians.

“This is not decorative. It is how nations build engineer­ing, fabrication, welding, geological and technology capacity. We will not accept tokenism,” he said.

Joel-Onowakpo also an­nounced that the committee is working with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to expose and publicly shame companies undermining lo­cal content laws or exploiting Nigerian workers.

He reiterated the three na­tional pillars for local content development: the NOGICD Act of 2010, Presidential Ex­ecutive Order No. 5 (2018), and the Nigeria First Policy (2025).

He reminded operators that these laws were enacted to prioritise Nigerians in em­ployment, procurement, and technology transfer, noting that Sections 28–37 of the NOGICD Act require that criti­cal positions be Nigerianised within four years.