Nigerian Government Tasks NEITI Board On Priority Areas That Focuses On Extractive Sector Reforms To Drive Economic Development .

The Nigerian Government has charged the Board of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to refocus its attention on impacts that are derived from the priorities of the present administration on economic growth through diversification, investment flows, competition built on extractive sector reforms and the Nigerian citizens.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation-SGF and chair of the NEITI Board Senator George Akume, gave the charge on day two of the ongoing retreat for the members of the NEITI Board in Lagos.
According to the SGF, the theme of the retreat “From Reports to results built on Impacts” clearly situates the expectations of the President from the present Board to forge new policy and strategic direction on how NEITI can use its reports findings and recommendations to drive reforms in Nigeria’s extractive sector that will benefit Nigerians and support government efforts in growing the sector.
Senator Akume in his address presented by the former Permanent Secretary General Services Office in the Presidency, pointed out the importance for the NEITI Board to guide the Agency to play a “Leading role in supporting Nigeria to navigate through the grave challenges that oil theft and illegal bunkering has imposed on our economy and the consequences to our environment through our public value addition by providing informed policy direction”.
According to the SGF, “We must therefore help to build a NEITI process that provides accurate, adequate and timely information and data to guide this Administration’s policy making choices in the oil, gas and mining sectors and support policy decisions to institutionalize transparency and accountability mechanisms in Nigeria’s extractive sector for the benefit of all.
Other areas that Senator Akume urged the Board to pay priority attention to include, the NEITI mandate, status of EITI implementation in Nigeria, where we need to be and how we can get there, identify the areas of strengths and weaknesses.
He stated that Nigeria’s commitment to beneficial ownership disclosures, domestic resource mobilization, contracts transparency, and open data policy are also areas that require policy support from the Board in providing the needed direction for our domestic country context towards implementation.
“This Board under my leadership must also come up with credible proposals that will guide the government to mitigate the impacts and risks associated with climate change, energy transition and how as a country, we can maximize the potential opportunities while reducing the risks and negative impacts”, he emphasised.
Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji reiterated the resolve of the Board to support government by aligning NEITI’s mission of fostering transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s extractive industries with the yearnings of Nigerians for impacts within the country’s contextual reality and its international obligations.
“This retreat has been structured as an induction programme that will expose us to the mandates and operations of NEITI and why we are unique, peculiar and different from other agencies of the Federal Government”, Dr. Orji reiterated.
He stated that for NEITI to remain relevant, it must record visible impacts, meet its international obligations, but most importantly align itself to the priority of government in mobilising revenues for domestic utilization and upholding reforms in the sector.
Speaking on behalf of the civil society, the representative of the civil society on the NEITI Board, Dr. Erisa Danladi Sarki reaffirmed the commitment of the third sector to ensure that the EITI/NEITI processes and standard is meticulously mainstreamed in Nigeria’s extractive industries operations as a subscribing nation. According to her “Meaningful engagements and active collaboration among stakeholders are essential for achieving our shared objectives. Our role as civil society is to advocate for the public interest, ensure that the voices of the most vulnerable are heard, and promote policies that lead to sustainable and inclusive development in the extractive sector”.
Executive Director Oil Producers Trade Section and Chair of the NEITI Companies Forum, Mr. Gwueke Ajaifia on behalf of the companies committed full support to the country’s efforts at enthroning transparency and accountability mechanisms in the oil and gas sectors.
The Representative of the South West Zone on the NEITI Board, Mr Olasupo Abdel-Jeleel Taiwo commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the assemblage of the diverse skill set and unique experiences of men and women of proven integrity to the NEITI Board. He committed to use the NEITI platforms created for stakeholders’ engagements to deepen sub-national discourse that will extend the EITI model of extractive sector governance and reforms to the South West Region and the nation in general in other to ensure holistic reforms.
The retreat ends on Friday with a formal Board meeting.