…Company didn’t break any law – Wabote
OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Wabote, says Seplat Petroleum Development company Plc did not break any law by its appointment of Mr. Roger Brown as CEO-designate to replace current CEO, Mr. Austin Avuru.
Wabote revealed this while addressing participants at the 9th Practical Nigerian Content Conference hosted by the NCDMB in Yenagoa. Bayelsa State.
Whilst clarifying the board’s position on the appointment, Wabote, said: “If you read the Act (Nigerian Content Act) itself, it creates a five percent position for investors.
“The investment in Seplat is not coming fully from Nigeria; the company is publicly listed in the London and Nigerian stock exchanges. So, the company is bringing in external funds and most of these fund contributors would want to have some level of representation in such establishment.
“There is no breaking of law by Seplat; but I think the point that was being made was that Seplat has always been a poster child and you expect that they will continue to grow in terms of local content attainment. But of course, Seplat has a business reason to do the appointment, and the company has not broken any law.”
The company had last week, in an announcement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, refuted an allegation in a section of the media that the appointment of Mr. Brown negates the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010.
As stated in the announcement dated 18th November 2019, Seplat had informed the public of the appointment of Mr. Brown as the successor to Mr. Avuru, who steps down as CEO on 31 July 2020.