The Senate has ordered the suspension of procurement processes in some federal government agencies whose management failed to honour its investigative hearings.

Also, Senate Committee on Local Content, led by its Chairman, Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, yesterday rounded off its oversight visit to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, with a promise to work with the board to fully Nigerianise workforce in the oil and gas sector of the country.

The red chamber has consequently directed the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPE) to ensure strict compliance with its directive.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Procurement, Senator Olajide Ipinshagba, gave the order at a news conference yesterday.

Ipinsagba, who represents Ondo North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, threatened that his panel would take further legislative sanctions against any federal agency that continuously hinder it from carrying out its oversight functions.

The Senator said, “I stand before you as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Procurement to address a pressing issue that strikes at the heart of our democratic principles.

“It has come to our attention that several agencies and institutions have repeatedly and unapologetically flouted our invitations to appear before the Committee.

“This lack of cooperation and blatant disregard for due process is unacceptable,” he noted.

The panel chairman said his committee’s mandate was to safeguard the resources of the Nigerian people by ensuring that procurement practices are transparent, competitive, and fair.

He clarified that his committee’s inquiries and oversight responsibilities were not ceremonial.

He said they were essential to ensuring the judicious use of public funds and promoting good governance.

“When agencies refuse to attend hearings or fail to provide requested documentation, they undermine not only the authority of this Committee but also the core principles of accountability and responsible leadership.

“Let me be clear: any agency or institution that continues to ignore our invitations will face serious consequences. Such defiance will not be tolerated.

“Effective immediately, in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

“I am directing that all procurement processes be suspended for agencies that fail to appear before this Committee.

“We are committed to full compliance with the Public Procurement Act and will not hesitate to recommend disciplinary action, including penalties, against individuals or agencies who continue to show flagrant disregard for the law.

“I urge all agencies to take this warning seriously.

“Cooperation with the Senate Committee is not only a legal obligation, it is a civic duty to uphold the values of transparency, integrity, and service to the Nigerian people,” Ipinsagba said.

He stressed the need for the Senate and the federal agencies to work together to ensure that procurement processes reflect the highest standards of accountability and ethics.

“We owe that to the constituents who depend on us to ensure that their resources are managed effectively and responsibly,” he added.

In another development,the Senate Committee on Local Content delegation was taken on a tour of the NCDMB’s Nigeria Oil and Gas Park (NOGaPS) project, located in Emeyal 1 in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, which is already being occupied.

Senator Thomas, who led the lawmakers on the oversight visit, said the mandate of the committee is to ensure that Nigerians benefit maximally from the natural resources in oil and gas.

He promised that the committee will work hard to create an enabling environment that fosters the growth of businesses, promote jobs creation and develop critical assets and skills, which NCDMB plays a vital role in achieving.

He said the National Assembly is committed to increasing Nigerians’ participation in the oil and gas industry, thereby creating economic opportunities and improving the livelihoods of Nigerians, and reinstated the Senate commitment in supporting the board in its efforts to develop and promote policies that promote local content development.

Also speaking, Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Ede Dafinone, stated that the committee was impressed by what the board is doing to ensure in-country production of equipment used in the oil and gas sector.

He promised the National Assembly’s commitment to work with the board to build more resilience Nigerianise oil and gas sector to boost the economy of the country.

“We have come to the end of oversight visits, this is the first oversight visit of the 10th Senate to NCDMB, and we have had some time with the Executive Secretary and his team to understand exactly what they are doing here and the results we are seeing for Nigerians, I have to say that we are impressed.

“Executive Secretary and his team have taken us around one of their projects, the industrial park, that is nearly finishing and has started to be occupied, some other industrial parks that they have completed also, I want to say that the work of the NCDMB extended far wider than the projects that we see physically on ground, but also too, the training and capacity buildings, we have programmes for Nigerians.

“It’s a good facet and I believe that we will still see more at the NCDMB.

“NCDMB have self-graded themselves and they see themselves today at the 56 per cent pass mark in terms of Nigerianising workforce in the oil and gas sector, they had presented to us what they feel that the Senate can also push in order to expand the frontiers and give them more depths in their programmes, so we are going to work with that, further engagement will go on and we will try to build more resilience Nigerianise oil and gas sector,” Dafinone said.

Welcoming the Senate Committee, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said 10 firms have already applied to occupy the board’s industrial park at Emeyal 1 in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and solicited for the exclusion of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) from revenue deductions in line with Section 104 of the NOGICD Act which sets up the NCDF for development of Nigerian Content.

He said the board was looking at firms who could produce all the necessary equipment used in the oil and gas production such as bolt, nuts, fabrications and tailoring, and safety gadgets among others at the commencement of the industrial park. (THISDAY)