A coalition of civil society groups,
under the aegis of Publish-What-You-Pay Nigeria (PWYPN), has challenged
the Federal Government to look beyond the recent validation as EITI
Compliant country and ensure that the country meets its obligations and
commitments to transparency and accountability in the extractive
industry.
Chairman, Executive Board of the
advocacy group committed to the public declaration of revenues earned by
government from operations of their extractive industries, Faith
Nwadishi, said in Abuja during a meeting with the management of the
Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) that the
delay in releasing the final report of the 2006-2008 audit of the
country's oil and gas industry appears to suggest Nigeria is yet to move
away from the pre-validation era.
Though the PWYPN boss acknowledged the
changes that have taken place in the quality of NEITI operations in the
past six months since the reorganization of the Secretariat and
appointment of professionals to key positions, she said the agency
should ensure that it fulfills its mandate as spelt out in NEITI Act
2007.
"When EITI started, Nigeria was a model.
But, after a while the country appears to have derailed. There are some
provisions in the NEITI Act 2007 that are not being observed. For
instance, the Act provides that latest by September 30 every year, NEITI
should send an activity report to the National Assembly on the status
of various operations in the extractive industry. The National Assembly
has denied ever receiving any such report from NEITI since its
inception.
"The Act also provides that there should
be an annual report on the previous year's industry audit about 60 days
before the end of the year. With 2011 fast coming to an end, and the
audit report for 2006-2008 is yet to be published, what would happen to
the reports for 2009 and 2010?
"Nigeria's extractive industries
transparency audit system is touted as one of the most robust in the
world. If we as a country set those targets by ourselves, we should be
seen to be meeting those targets. We should not go back to the
experience prior to when the country was given validation. We (the
country) gave ourselves the task (to ensure transparency and
accountability in the operations of the extractive industry), so we
should not expect to get a pat on the back for being granted validation
as an EITI compliant nation. Rather, we should be seen as meeting the
targets," she said.
"CSOs were happy that Nigeria was
granted EITI validation. But, since validation, what are the gains or
dividends of validation to the country? What would the average Nigerian
look up to as the change the new status has brought for the country, and
where we are going?" he added.
Besides, she drew attention to several
remedial measures recommended in the 1999-2004 audit report that are yet
to be taken, pointing out that the group's inquiries on the issue of
$5billion reported to have missed from the revenues that the Federal
Government should have earned is yet to be responded to by the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Though she expressed happiness that the
Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill was finally passed into law, Ms Faith
said the group was interested in developing ways the provisions of the
law could be used in promoting the transparency objective and mandate of
NEITI.
Promoting transparency
Promoting transparency
She pledged to work with NEITI to ensure
that the country does what is right about the management of the
revenues earned from the country's extractive industry, expressing the
hope that the Nigeria would soon emulate the United States government
that recently passed a law mandating all companies registered in the
American stock exchange to publish the balance sheet of their operations
for the consumption of the public.
"From next year, we should be able to
log onto the website of the United States stock exchange to download the
balance sheet of American companies, like Chevron and ExxonMobil,
operating in Nigeria, like what is happening in Canada and other
European countries.
Responding, NEITI's director,
Communications, Orji Ogbonanya Orji, who represented the Executive
Secretary, promised the agency's committed to meeting its mandate,
saying efforts to ensure the release of the 2006-2008 audit report are
still on course, while process for the 2009-2011 audit has since
commenced.
On the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB),
Mr. Orji said the agency's recent statement urging members of the
National Assembly to ensure that they promoted Nigeria's interest in
their deliberations on the proposed law was informed by reports that
there were more than one version of the Bill in circulation, which
tended to create serious doubts in the minds of most Nigerians.
He said the agency is currently studying
a copy of the Gazetted Bill before the National Assembly to see how the
country's interests are being protected by its provisions, though he
said NEITI still stands by its information earlier that the lawmakers
should be responsible in their deliberations in the interest of the
country.
On its quarterly report, he said a copy
was recently sent to the Presidency as required by law, while the one to
the National Assembly would soon be done.
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