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Publish What You Pay coalition welcomes transparency commitments by G8, Nigeria and Sao Tome

Source: Publish What You Pay Nigeria
Date: 30 Jun 2004

Benin City – The Publish What You Pay campaign Nigeria (PWYP-Nigeria)1 endorses the nine-point Abuja joint declaration signed by the governments of Nigeria and Sao Tome e Principe to implement transparency and good governance in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ). The PWYP-Nigeria coalition particularly welcomes the commitment to quarterly and annual publication of payments made by individual oil companies to the Joint Development Authority (JDA). We also recognize the importance of the Abuja Declaration’s [2] emphasis on civil society involvement in monitoring its implementation, using the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)3 principles.

PWYP-Nigeria also commends the G8 governments for signing a transparency compact with the government of Nigeria, in which they have agreed to support the implementation of the EITI framework in Nigeria.

We call on international financial institutions, the extractive industries, and donor agencies to respect the commitments made by the governments of Nigeria and Sao Tome, as well as the G8-Nigeria compact on transparency. Corporations involved in the extractive industries should also participate by disclosing their payments individually, as indicated in the Abuja Declaration.

David Ugolor, acting National Coordinator of the PWYP-Nigeria coalition, stated: “The outcome of the G8 summit in Georgia and the recent Abuja Declaration indicates a new momentum by leaders, both from extractive industry host countries and from the international community, to work towards turning the oil curse into a blessing. We are also encouraged by the invitation for PWYP-Nigeria to act as an observer to the EITI-Nigeria National Stakeholders Working Group.”

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Press contact:

Reverend David Ugolor
PUBLISH WHAT YOU PAY CAMPAIGN NIGERIA
C/o African Network for Environmental and Economic Justice
123 First East Circular Road, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Tel/Fax: +234 (0) 52 258 748
Mobile: +234 (0) 80 2344 8216
E-mail: aneej2000@yahoo.co.uk and nigeria@publishwhatyoupay.org

Notes:


  1. The Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Nigerian coalition of over 47 civil society organisations, drawn from the six geo-political regions and representing a wide-range of socio-economic and cultural interests, was launched in Port Harcourt, 17 February 2004. The coalition is part of an international network of organisations calling for the mandatory disclosure of the payments made by oil, gas and mining companies to governments, and for governments to publicly reveal its revenues from these sectors so that citizens can hold them accountable for their management. See: www.publishwhatyoupay.org

  2. The Abuja Declaration, signed 26 June 2004, will govern the oil and gas industries in the Joint Development Zone.

  3. For more information on the EITI, visit: www.dfid.gov.uk


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