Local Content Bill will transform Nigeria industrially — Senator Folarin

Senator Teslim Folarin, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content has said that with the new bill on local content, approvals for the award of contracts by the Federal Executive Council will upon enactment of the Bill requires a Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate.

Folarin, is the sponsor of the new bill and said if the new bill is passed into law; would help transform Nigeria into an industrialized nation, just the way he said that the Public Procurement Policy would be relied upon to make local content compliance, a requirement for granting of Certificate of No Objection to procuring entities.

While speaking with Journalists in Abuja, Folarin who noted that his bill was designed to introduce procedures that would achieve major gains in local content implementation in the oil and gas sector, as well as other sectors of the economy, said that the proposed law recognizes the fact that government has been overstretched with too many agencies and therefore sought to rely on existing structures of government to implement local content.

According to Senator Folarin, the bill will provide provision for local content development committee to be headed by the Vice President, who will drive policy direction on local content.

Folarin said, “The bill gives ministers who are responsible for implementing government policies in their sectors, additional responsibility for ensuring local content is achieved in all their transactions.

“Each sector will be required to set local content targets in its procurement of goods, services, and manpower and this will be well reflected in procurement planning, advertisement, bid evaluation, and vendor selection.

“Approvals for the award of contracts by the Federal Executive Council will upon enactment of the Bill require a Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate.”

Ayooluwa Joshua