Economy
Lokpobiri Charges New NCDMB Council on Growth of Nigeria’s Energy Sector
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, has charged the newly inaugurated fourth Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to continue advancing the country’s oil and gas industry.
The NCDMB Governing Council is set up under the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and draws membership from representatives of select institutions connected with the energy sector.
The fourth NCDMB Governing Council would be chaired by Mr Lokpobiri, while the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, would serve as the Secretary.
Others are the Executive Vice President, Gas, Power, and New Energy, NNPC Ltd, Mrs Oritsemyiwa Eyesan; the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, Mr Gbenga Komolafe; the representative from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Bekearedebo Augusta Warrens and the Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, Mr Nicholas Odinuwe.
Others include the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission, (NAICOM), Mr Sunday Thomas; Chairman of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering, COREN, Mr Sadiq Abubakar; and the representative of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum, Mr Raphael Samuel.
Chairing the inaugural meeting of the Council, the Minister said the NOGICD Act provided for institutional representation on the Governing Council, to enable the agency to benefit from the expertise and professionalism of key organisations and change the narrative in the oil and gas industry.
Mr Lokpobiri confirmed that NCDMB had recorded tremendous achievements in the oil and gas industry in the last 13 years of its existence and had achieved many of the set objectives.
He solicited the cooperation of the new Council members to raise the bar of Nigerian Content development, adding that many African countries are coming to understudy Nigeria’s Local Content model and it was incumbent on Nigeria to deepen the level of implementation and stay ahead of other nations.
Speaking further, the Minister stated that one of the core mandates of the NCDMB was to build indigenous human and infrastructural capacities so that Nigerians can play critical roles in the oil and gas industry.
He highlighted that NCDMB was one of the few agencies chaired by the Minister, attributing it to the importance of the organisation to the national economy, noting that section 75 of the NOGICD Act mandates the Governing Council to manage and superintend the affairs of the Board among other duties.
Responding on behalf of the newly constituted council, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, Mr Thomas, thanked the Minister for the nomination and promised to uphold the confidence reposed in them.
Mr Thomas affirmed that NCDMB has performed creditably, and Nigerian Content implementation has become the envy of many countries.
“A lot of value has been added to the oil and gas industry and the Nigerian economy and I thank those who originated the NOGICD Act. We will do our best and we will continue the good work started by the NCDMB,” he said.
Also, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Ogbe promised to work closely with all the members of the Governing Council to take the board to greater heights.
By Adedapo Adesanya
TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.
In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.
Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.
The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.
Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.
The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.
Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.
The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.
“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.
Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.
However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.
Economy
NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.
In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.
According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.
The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.
The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.
“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.
NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.
It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.
This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.
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