Tinubu sacks Wabote, appoints Engr. Ogbe as NCDMB Executive Secretary
… appoints Sen. Lokpobiri as NCDMB Chairman, names Eyesan, Komolafe, others as members
… Wabote’s sins amidst excellent performance
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday removed , Engr. Simbi Wabote as the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and replaced him with Engr. Felix Ogbe following the announcement of new governing council and management team announced by the president.
Wabote’s removal, which is less than 10 months to the expiration of his 4-year second tenure, is contained in a statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, thereby bringing to an end the excellent 7-year journey of Engr. Wabote, as the country’s local content champion.
Although no reason was given for Wabote’s removal, Oracle News Today, learned from well-placed sources that the former NCDMB was alleged of partaking in areas outside its mandate, planning to relocate the Board’s Headquarters to Abuja, and under-utilising the 17-storey headquarters building, undermining the impact of former President Goodluck Jonathan(the man who personally signed the NOGICD Act into Law, gave approval for the citing of the NCDMB headquarters at Yenagoa), among other wide allegations.
As indicated in Ajuri’s statement, the appointment of the NCDMB governing council and management team, conformed with Sections 71(1), 72, and 73 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (2010).
According to the statement, “President Bola Tinubu approved the appointment of qualified Nigerians to serve on the Governing Council and Management team of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil) was announced as the Board Chairman, while Oritsemyiwa Eyesan, NNPCL Executive Vice President Upstream, Gbenga Komolafe, CEO, NUPRC, Bekearedebo Warrens, were announced as members of the Board.
Other members of the Board are Nicolas Odinuwe, Raphael Samuel, Sadiq Abubakar, and Olorundare Thomas.
President Tinubu has therefore issued the new Board and Management of the NCDMB a new mandate to discharge their duties based on his administration’s patriotic resolve to significantly enhance indigenous industry participation in the energy sector.
This according to the President was part of the Renewed Hope Agenda’s mandate to achieve the goal of 70% indigenous content and participation in the nation’s energy industry during the lifespan of this administration.
Reports said that Engr Wabote, who has served as the Executive Secretary NCDMB since September 2016, was reappointed for a second term by former President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2020, meaning his second term will end September 2024.
Engr Ogbe as the Executive Secretary, is tasked with the challenge of achieving the board’s 10-year Strategic Roadmap, which includes increasing Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry to 70 percent by 2027, with only three years left to meet this target.
He is also expected to oversee the NCDMB’s operations and ensure the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (2010) and fully implement the five (5) pillars and four (4) enablers by the Board to drive the focus areas under the roadmap, each supported with short, medium, and long-term initiatives.
