Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has expressed absolute faith in the ability of the new management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to turn around the fortunes of the Nigerian petroleum industry.
NEITI said the commitment to transparency and accountability by the new NNPC management headed by Mele Kyari has prompted it to decide to cooperate with the corporation
Waziri Adio, executive secretary of NEITI and Coordinator, EITI implementation in Nigeria, who said this during a courtesy visit to the NNPC new boss in Abuja, expressed confidence in the ability of the new management to transform the corporation for the good of the country.
“We have extreme faith in the new management. We are ready to work with NNPC one thousand percent, we are working together for the good of the country,” the NEITI chief said.
He said, based on Kyari’s credentials and antecedent, “he is somebody who brings something to the table, something that is not usually associated with this institution, that is transparency’’.
Adio assured that from the goodwill that has trailed the NNPC in the last one month, the corporation would be repositioned, and in no time, “It would be mentioned in the same light as its peers all over the world.”
The executive secretary, however, advised the management to be proactive by making information on all its transactions, especially crude oil lifting contracts and contractors, available to the public.
On his part, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Kyari, said his management recognised the primacy of NNPC to the Nigerian economy and its impact thereof.
He said the corporation had nothing to hide, adding that “transparency impacts performance positively, our commitment to the principles of transparency and accountability is unwavering,’’ the GMD assured.
Continuing, Kyari commended President Muhammadu Buhari, saying “we are fortunate that we have a President who believes that we must be accountable; he does not interfere with the running of the NNPC,” while thanking the NEITI team for its support.
