The Nigerian government’s ‘satisfactory’ rating following the report of Nigeria’s validation conducted by the International Board of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative,(EITI) has heightened the call for increased and deep-rooted reforms in Nigeria’s extractive sector, Waziri Adio, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, has said.
Adio who made case for the expansion of the reforms informed newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja that EITI board has hailed the reforms in the Nigeria’s extractive sector as satisfactory in its latest validation, and added that the NEITI reports have shaped major reforms initiated in the sector, including those by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
The validation report on Nigeria considered by the EITI board assessed the level of implementation of the EITI standards in Nigeria’s extractive sector and impact on on-going reforms, lessons learnt, stakeholders’ participation and engagement, and prospects for the future.
On the impact of EITI in Nigeria, the board quoted Nigeria’s Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed, as saying that, “The NEITI reports form the basis for reforms in the oil, gas and mining industry, as was laid out in President Muhammadu Buhari’s manifesto, while he said, “Inspired by the EITI, Nigerian government now conducts monthly routine reconciliations for all sectors, not just the extractives, which has increased government revenues.’
EITI validation is an essential feature of the EITI process designed to assess performance of member countries, promote dialogue and learning at country level. It is also an important tool used to measure level of progress and compliance to its principles and requirements, and holds implementing countries to the same global standard.
EITI board also looks at multi-stakeholders sectors, licencing and contracting, production, revenue collection, socio-economic contribution and impact on outcome of a nation’s efforts before validating a particular country. Also, global ratings bodies such as the United Nations and the Transparency International also rate countries with EITI higher ratings better in their ranking.
The EITI board Chair Frederik Reinfeldt noted after Nigeria’s satisfactory rating exercise in Ukraine, “Over 15 years of implementing the EITI, the Nigeria EITI (NEITI) has become an independent watchdog that holds stakeholders in the crucial hydrocarbons – and more recently solid minerals – sector to account. Since 2017, NEITI has disclosed key data on its allocation of licenses, on the administration of oil and gas subnational transfers and on crude sales and other processes within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).”
Areas of focus on the validation include contract disclosure policy; disclosure on state participation; quasi-fiscal expenditures; production and export data; barter and infrastructure agreements; transport revenues; subnational payments and transfers; social expenditures; comprehensiveness of data; data timeliness; data quality; and contribution to the economy.
Over time, a total sum of $617.22 billion has been disclosed as revenue earned between 1999 and 2016 in the oil and gas sector, while $308.77 billion has been disclosed as earnings in the solid minerals sector between 2007 and 2016. Besides, about $20 billion have been identified as recoverable revenue, while information from NEITI’s reports has been used to recover about $3 billion into government coffers.
Reacting to the development, NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Adio welcomed the news as a positive development. He noted that, “For us achieving Satisfactory Progress on EITI Validation is not a destination, it is a journey. And the journey of continuous progress continues. Nigeria will continue to raise the bar in EITI implementation.’’
Adio thanked the NEITI Board, the government, civil society, companies, development partners and NEITI management and staff for their valued support.
The Executive Secretary however, cautioned that attaining the highest rating in EITI implementation is one thing and enthroning transparency and accountability in the extractive sector to the extent that revenue resources in the industry contributes visibly to poverty reduction and improved quality of lives for Nigerian citizens is another.
He said the challenge now is to ensure that these high standards are maintained and sustained in NEITI’s interface with the oil, gas and solid mineral sectors, in the discharge of its mandate under the NEITI Act of 2007.
The global EITI standard is currently undergoing a review and expansion to cover mandatory disclosure on beneficial ownership, state-owned enterprises, licensing and contract transparency, project-level reporting, commodity trading, environmental reporting, open data, and gender concern. NEITI is already implementing some of these standards and will deepen implementation, as important next steps.
HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA
