PWYP Draws More Attention To NEITI Audit

Publish What You Pay (Nigeria) PWYP has joined the league of stakeholders in drawing attention to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Audit Report, 2005 and other activities of the NEITI Secretariat.

PWYP’s round table, tagged CSOs Review Meeting on Shadow Report on the 2005 Audit Report which attracted stakeholders as well as other civil society groups, including the media to the Peace Haven Hotel, in Wuye District of Abuja last week did not only expose the feelings of stakeholders on the 2005 Audit Report as the shadow report was presented, general comments on the activities of the extractive sector, the NEITI Secretariat and the CSO/Media expectation of the industry was brought to the fore.

While speaking, Dr. Salisu Mohammed, Country Director of PWYP decried the prevalence corruption and lack of accountability in the polity which he said was manifesting as endemic, discredited electoral system, violence and impunity which continues to undermine democracy and good governance.

“In spite of efforts at decentralization, the management of resource revenues remains highly contentious with widespread poverty and inequity fanning ethno-religious and community conflicts, militancy, kidnappings and vandalisation of oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta. Poverty remains widespread in Nigeria with more than 70%, or about 105 million Nigerians, predominantly youths, living in abject poverty,” he stated.

Presentation of the shadow report was made by Babatunde Oluajo, National Secretary of Zero Corruption Coalition, ZCC and it elicited comments from stakeholders and other participants.

In her comment, Ms. Amanda, representative of the World Bank noted that remediation was not part of the report as presented. She also insisted that it must take the collaboration of NEITI Secretariat and civil society groups for the implementation of the global EITI. She urged CSOs to help NEITI in following up on FIRS on report as well as assist in trailing and tracking oil and gas companies to see their compliance level. She noted that buck passing was not going to help but rather that CSOs must work with NEITI to achieve the implementation of the report.

Obiageli Onuorah, NEITI CSO coordinator made it clear that NEITI had come a long way and that it was changing for the better. She insisted that CSOs should be more visible in the areas where NEITI is working for the purpose of easy collaboration.

She lamented the absence of CSOs in their trainings in Sokoto and Calabar, thereby missing out on contributions. She also pointed at the issues of CSO representation in the Secretariat and in the steering committee of the NSWG.
In conclusion she urged that the “new NEITI” be given a chance, as it was going to be a different ball game with the new team. She also challenged CSOs to “property” engage NEITI, “tell us ‘how’ and we will, together with you, work things out,” she told CSOs and stakeholders.

Also contributing was the Country Director, OSIWA, Dayo Olaide. He stated, “We are yet to see the outcome of the potentials in NEITI. “He said that in the past six years, attention had been drawn and focused on the process of selection of stakeholders; outcome, which is the essence, which he described as the “meat of setting up NEITI is not there yet.”

He said the purpose of setting up NEITI was to “bring the people and the nation out of poverty from proceeds from their extractive Sector.” He said the issue now was how to help NEITI deliver on its mandate to insist on transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.

The Nigerian government, in 2003 signed up to EITI and in 2004 launched NEITI as subset of EITI. In May 2007, the NEITI Act was passed and Nigeria has since then remained a candidate country.

The 2005 Audit report which was in the spot light has raised a number of questions which are yet to be answered which include the gaps between the institutions involved in the sector.

DPR’s lack of capacity to ascertain the amount of oil produced CBN’s lack of accounting data and the lapses in FIRS among others remain contentious.