A bill on local content before the Senate is capable of turning Nigeria into an industrialised country if passed into law, its sponsor, Senator Teslim Folarin (APC Oyo Central), has said.

Addressing journalists on the new bill over the weekend in Abuja, he explained that the piece of legislation was structured to introduce procedures that would achieve major gains in local content implementation in the oil and gas sector as well as other sectors of the nation’s economy.

Folarin, who is the chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, also said the proposed law recognises the fact that government has been overstretched with too many agencies and therefore sought to rely on existing structures of government to implement local content.

According to him, the bill provides provision for local content development committee to be headed by the Vice President, who will drive policy direction on local content.

The bill, he further disclosed “gives ministers who are responsible for implementing government policies in their sectors, additional responsibility for ensuring local content is achieved in all their transactions.”

Folarin, who was a former Senate Leader, added that the Public Procurement Policy would be relied upon to make local content compliance, a requirement for granting of Certificate of No Objection to procuring entities.

He said: “Each sector will be required to set local content targets in its procurement of goods, services and manpower and this will be well reflected in procurement planning, advertisement, bid evaluation and vendor selection.

“Approvals for award of contracts by the Federal Executive Council will upon enactment of the Bill require a Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate.”