Wabote blames sacking as NCDMB boss on refusal to inflate budget by ₦30bn

The former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote has disclosed that the federal government dismissed him last year because of his refusal to inflate the agency’s 2023 budget by N30 billion.

Wabote stated that he declined a request from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, conveyed through an intermediary, to increase the budget by the said amount.

In a statement released in Abuja, Wabote criticised recent comments made by the minister at the Petroleum Club, labelling them as deceitful and unfounded.

He expressed surprise at the minister’s attempt to tarnish his reputation with falsehoods, branding it as a smear campaign aimed at discrediting him and promoting a dubious agenda.

According to the statement obtained by Pulse, he said, “I served two Ministers and none of them have ever made such a request to NCDMB, that we only make provision for the office of the Chairman of the council which covers his travel expenses.

“I said to him that the maximum NCDMB budget has ever gotten to in the past is circa N80 Billion for all our activities, adding N30billion will be too much for his office and I was not going to do it. I ask stakeholders to review the NCDMB budget from 2016 to 2023 and also look at what got approved in 2024.

“In August 2023, I had led the management of NCDMB to provide a full briefing of the Board’s activities to Mr. Lokpobiri and the Hon Minister of State for Petroleum – Gas (HMSPR-Gas) Hon Ekperikpe Ekpo.”

The statement further urged the minister to visit the construction sites to avail himself of facts on ground.