Extractive Industry Reforms: FG Promises To Implement NEITI’s Report

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Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday promised that the Buhari administration will implement the report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), to see how billions of dollars in oil revenue leakage can be curbed.

The Vice President’s promise was conveyed by the Chairman of NEITI, Mr Ledum Mitee, after a closed door meeting held at the Defence House, Abuja, with the head of the global watchdog on corruption, the International Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (IEITI), Claire Short.

Speaking to State House correspondents, Short expressed confidence that the Buhari administration would fulfil the pledge to stamp out corruption and set up openness in the natural resources industries.

It will be recalled that the Executive Secretary of IEITI’s Nigerian arm, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said last week that billions of Naira still needed to be recovered from oil and gas companies in Nigeria.

EITI had yesterday (Tuesday, June 16) called on the Nigerian Government to implement its past reports in its quest to reform the mineral extractive sector of the economy.

The EITI Chairperson expressed the view that the Nigerian Government had a ready-made tool in the reports of NEITI which could be relied upon to reform the sector.

NEITI, in some of its past audit reports had alleged several irregularities in the extractive industries including unremitted dividends and abuse of the petroleum subsidy regime.

The four year audit reports between 2009 and 2012 contained an alleged unremitted $11.6 billion to the Federation Account.