The Federal Government on Tuesday declared that contracts not above N5bn would no longer be awarded to any foreign firms in the country.
It said the decision was part of a way of patronising the indigenous firms in line with the planned local content laws in the country.
The Minister of State, Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu, stated this at a public hearing organised by the National Assembly joint committees on local content.
He said contracts worth N5bn and below, would be exclusively preserved for indigenous firms.
He said, “As part of measures being put in place for strengthening of local content laws in the country, contracts that are not more than N5bn are to be exclusive preserve of indigenous firms or companies for bidding, award and execution.”
When asked by the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Teslim Folarin, on whether the new policy would affect construction firms like Julius Berger, the Minister said proper categorisation would be done to determine that.
He said, “Julius Berger PLC is more or less an indigenalised foreign firm going by high involvement of Nigerians in its operations and management over the years which makes its categorisation in this respect a bit difficult.”
He added that other measures like registration of expatriates and proof of valid residence permit, among others, were also part of recommendations being made into the local content development bill.
Folarin said the three bills being considered were very important and sacrosanct to the development of the country’s oil and gas industry, which is one of the most viable sectors of the economy.
He explained that the bills, among other things, sought to consolidate on the gains of the implementation of local content component in the oil and gas industry, pursuant to the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010.
House Gives CBN Deadline to Unfreeze over 5,000 Accounts
The House of Representatives has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review its decisions that led to the freezing of over 5,000 bank accounts.
It said the review should be done within 48 hours and the accounts unfreeze within one week.
The House gave the directive yesterday following the adoption of a motion over allegations of unjustified, inhuman, illegal and premeditated freezing of bank accounts of some customers moved by Hon. Mark Gbillah at the plenary.
Gbillah expressed concern about the plethora of petitions and “Save our Soul (SOS)” appeals from Nigerians over the untold hardship they are experiencing from extended freezing of their personal, corporate and other accounts by the apex bank.
He said reports of the freezing of over 5,000 bank accounts in Nigeria by the CBN violated the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 608 of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2004.
Gbillah stated that the number of accounts being frozen by the CBN appears to be taking a toll on the nation’s economy and livelihood of Nigerians, stressing that it underscores the seeming flagrant abuse of power by the CBN when compared to central banks of other nations.
He expressed worry about innumerable allegations from affected Nigerians that the CBN in its claim of exercising the CBN governor’s powers to freeze bank accounts under Section 608 of BOFIA Act, 2004, incessantly violates Nigerians’ fundamental human rights to a fair hearing and presumption of innocence until proven guilty as enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), when it freezes accounts arbitrarily for extended periods without the knowledge of the account holders, the provision of an opportunity for the account holders to provide an explanation or referral of the matter.
The House, therefore, “Ask the CBN to within 48 hours commence a review of all currently frozen accounts in Nigeria and to, after one week, remove the freeze order on accounts frozen under the following clear violations of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 608 of BOFIA 2004; accounts frozen before a valid court order was obtained; accounts frozen without obtaining a court order from the required court of competent jurisdiction; accounts frozen without providing the opportunity for a fair hearing to the account holder; accounts frozen but till date have not been referred to the Nigeria Police Force, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) or any other appropriate regulatory authority for investigation.
“Accounts frozen that are unconnected to the account suspected for involvement in the commission of a crime. Accounts remaining frozen after a court authorised period of freeze has elapsed without obtaining a fresh order from a court of competent jurisdiction.”
The House also directed the apex bank to unfreeze accounts remaining frozen even after the concluded investigation has not indicted the account holder.
It also directed the CBN to unfreeze accounts frozen without documentary proof of petition or reason for suspicion of involvement in the commission of a crime.
The House mandated the House Committee on Banking and Currency to immediately invite all stakeholders to a public investigation of circumstances surrounding the freezing of all accounts by the CBN.
