Flooding: NCDMB Moves Bayelsa Oil Event to Uyo

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The management of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced the movement of her flagship annual Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) conference to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote made the announcement in an email to staff and other stakeholders to confirm that the event would still be held on the scheduled dates later this month and would attract major stakeholders in the oil and gas industry from across Nigeria.

Wabote explained that the change in venue for the conference was due to the ‘unprecedented’ flood situation that has ravaged 31 states in the country and its impact on the scheduled conference.

 “We are saddened to come to the realisation that the event is now threatened due to the unprecedented flooding that affected 31 states in the country, including Bayelsa State with most parts of the state seriously affected, including Yenagoa, the state capital and host city for the event.

“While we acknowledge that the flood has begun to recede, it is doubtful that significant recoveries would be made from now to the date of the event, which is about six weeks away,”  a statement from the company said.

The NCDMB boss further noted that the East-west Road, which is one of the major arteries to the state has been badly impacted making it difficult for human and vehicular movements.

He pointed out that facilities on the ground in Yenagoa for the hosting of the PNC 2022 have also been heavily impacted. “These include hotels, eateries, small businesses/service providers to our partners, logistics support, etc,” Wabote added.