‘Opening Extractives’: NEITI unveils five-year global scheme for enhancing beneficial ownership

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has unveiled Opening Extractives — a global five-year support programme for the implementation of beneficial ownership transparency reforms.

The scheme officially launched in an abridged event on Tuesday was jointly initiated by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and Open Ownership – a transparency platform.

Speaking at the event, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, executive secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), said the beneficial ownership transparency is a novel but challenging territory for many EITI-implementing countries.

Orji noted that these countries, including Nigeria, were adopting global best practices “to strategise on how best to lift the veil of secrecy over the ownership of extractive assets in most of the resource-rich countries.”

“I am glad to note that Beneficial Ownership Transparency is now a global norm and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind, given our history and experiences in the fight against corruption, insecurity, terrorism financing, money laundering and illicit financial flows that have become a bane of our society,” he said.

He advised companies, civil societies and stakeholders in the extractive sector to take a step further by ensuring a smooth implementation of the initiative.

“Establishing a publicly accessible register of beneficial owners cannot be the end of the campaign against ownerships secrecy, making the registers count through constant interrogation, update and utilisation of information and data contained in this register to demand accountability are critical to the success of this campaign,” he added.

“Also important is the need to constantly build the capacity of the state and non-state actors that are involved in this work.”

Clem Agba, minister of state for budget and national planning, said that the federal government is committed to granting support to ensure the successful implementation of Opening Extractives in the nation.

“With Nigeria’s participation and strong support to the global launch Opening Extractives two months ago and the domestication of the programme in Nigeria today, the federal government has shown its determination and resolve to imbibe and implement the principles of Opening Extractives,” he said.

“From the plan laid out for the programme, in the next five years, government, companies and civil society actors should have greater access to and use of comprehensive and reliable information about the ultimate owners of extractive industry companies facilitated through Opening Extractives.”

Orji further said NEITI’s plans to automate its data-gathering processes had reached an advanced stage.

“The NEITI audit management data gathering system or NAMS project, which is being jointly executed with development gateway under support from the World Bank, had reached the final stage,” he said.

He disclosed that this project — all things being equal — would be unveiled by the first week in December.