By GRACE OBIKE, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Ministry of interior to desist from issuing visas to expatriates whose skills are available in Nigeria.

He said the Federal Government will henceforth place premium on the use of indigenous professionals and firms in the design and execution of projects involving national security.

These are part of the provisions of the Executive order No. 5 being implemented by the FG under the chairmanship of the President.

Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said the Presidential Order No.5 is a revolutionary document designed by the present administration to place Nigerian professionals at the centre of the economy.

Onu said the government will commence full implementation of the document on Thursday in Abuja at the inauguration of the technical consultative committee of the strategy implementation task office for Presidential Executive order no.5.

The provisions of the documents are:

“Enjoins procuring entities to give preference to Nigerian companies and firms when awarding contracts, in line with the Public Procurement Act (PPA), 2007. Hence, indigenous firms will have the opportunity to participate fully in national development through award of contracts as well as appointment as consultants. It should be noted that the age of a firm will not be an obstacle to securing a contract, so long as it is legally registered and possesses requisite qualification and experience.

“The Federal Government will henceforth place premium on the use of indigenous professionals and firms in the design and execution of projects involving national security.

“Foreign experts would only be engaged on condition that such expertise is not available in Nigeria, and when engaged, Nigerian professionals would be attached to understudy them. Also, all MDA’s are expected’ to take steps to encourage indigenous professionals in the Diaspora to return home and use their expertise to develop Nigeria.

“MDAs shall engage indigenous professionals in the planning, design and execution of national security projects. Consideration shall only be given to a foreign professional, where it is certified by the appropriate authority that such expertise is not available in Nigeria.

“The Ministry of Interior shall desist from giving visa to foreign workers whose skills are available in Nigeria. The Federal Government shall introduce Margin of Preference in National Competitive Bidding in contracts, in the evaluation of tenders, from indigenous suppliers of goods manufactured locally over foreign goods.

“MDAs shall ensure that any professional practicing in Nigeria must be duly registered with the appropriate regulatory body in the country.

“MDAs shall ensure that for all consultancy contracts awarded to foreign companies, engineering drawings, necessary calculations, design, etc., are-made available to their corresponding Nigerian partners in the English language.

“It is essential that arrangements are made to work with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as partners towards local production of needed materials. Suppliers and contractors under national competitive bidding process shall disclose local material (processed or unprocessed), where available and needed for the execution of the project.” (The Nation)

Update news