The Senate has warned foreign companies operating in Nigeria to respect the nation’s law or face appropriate sanction.
Chairman, Senate Committee on local content, Senator Teslim Folarin handed down this warning at an investigative hearing on alleged violation of provisions of local content act by some companies.
While drilling the Managing Director of Siapem Contracting Nigeria Limited, Mr Walter Peviane, Members of the committee include Deputy Senate Chief Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Ajayi Boroffice expressed concerns that all explanations provided by SAIPEM with regards to lack of capacity to provide certain services by indigenous companies are well concerted efforts to circumvent the provisions of the act.
Senator Folarin said the local content act enacted in 2010 has only three years provision for knowledge deficit in appropriate areas to be bridged and incase this is not achieved, local vendors should be fully involved in seeking foreign interventions.
The MD of SAIPEM made frantic efforts to convince the committee on local content that some of its decisions on services and supply of materials for Train 7, Gas project are subjected to the review of Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.
At the end of the hearing, Senator Folarin concluded that his ommittee was not convinced that some of the affected organizations have not delibrately run foul of the law, he however asked the SAIPEM to supply more detailed information to his Committee