NEITI: We’re preparing Nigeria’s oil, mining sector for global assessment

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says it is working to prepare Nigeria for a global governance assessment of the oil, gas and mining sectors.

Orji Ogbonnaya, its executive secretary, said the agency is engaging with companies, civil society organisations (CSOs), media and the government to fully understand the EITI validation exercise. 

Ogbonnaya said this on Thursday at the NEITI’s companies forum on Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) validation in Lagos.

“We are here to ensure every stakeholder understands the EITI validation process, plays our expected roles and ensures that Nigeria is successful during the exercise. We are also engaging with relevant committees of the national assembly in this direction,” Ogbonnaya said.

“We have developed a plan of action to prepare other stakeholders, including our staff and board for the exercise based on what our country has accomplished as an EITI implementing country during the period under review.”

According to him, the NEITI management team has undergone training on the new validation model and constituted two separate committees — the validation committee and the shadow validation committee. 

“The validation committee is made up of the NSWG with the secretariat currently providing technical support, while the shadow validation committee is expected to critically review the progress made by the validation committee, identifying and advising on gaps within the reporting period,” he added.

“Also, to ensure adequate preparation and feedback, NEITI has commenced national sensitization to deepen stakeholders’ understanding of the EITI process and validation exercise. This meeting is in recognition of your unique roles as operators in the sector.”

Ogbonnaya further said the validation exercise was due to take place, adding that it is always conducted every three years by the EITI for all its member countries.

“So our country is due for another round of validation in February 2022, but due to scheduling issues, the global body shifted the date to January 2023. The forthcoming validation exercise will be conducted using the 2019 EITI standard,” he added.

“I wish to emphasise that the global assessment is on and about Nigeria’s implementation of the Initiative and not NEITI. NEITI is only a platform to guide Nigeria’s assessment.”

He added that the agency is ready to showcase outstanding accomplishments which the EITI implementation has made possible in Nigeria’s extractive sector.

Speaking on the EITI achievement, Ogbonnaya said the NEITI has partnered with Nigerian anti-corruption agencies such as MoUs.

“We are currently working with these agencies to ensure recovery of the outstanding debt owed to the government, investigate and prosecute other possible infractions as may be identified by the NEITI reports,’’ he assured.

“Similarly, the recommendations of the NEITI report and active engagement with the legislature working with other key stakeholders led to the eventual passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) – It was NEITI’s report that flagged the need to have a new law in the oil, gas and mining industry. NEITI currently serves on the Presidential Steering Committee on PIA implementation which is saddled with the responsibility of implementing the Act.”

On his part, Bunmi Toyobo, executive director, oil producers trade section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said the industry is strongly committed to collaborating with NEITI and the federal government in attracting investment and proper accountability in the sector.

“We should see ourselves as partners and not as bottlenecks that might hinder our growth because when we do things that will hinder the growth and development of the business community, it is a bottleneck to foreign investors coming to the country,” he said.

“We need to work together, we don’t perceive NEITI as a government agency. We believe that NEITI is an impartial organization; we are going to work with them and collaborate with them for the growth of the Nigerian economy.”

Toyobo also commended the NEITI for a job well done.