Civil society groups working in the petroleum and solid minerals sectors have blamed the apparent lack of openness in the extractive sector in Nigeria on corruption.
Speaking at a consultative meeting on the ‘Disclose the deal campaign Nigeria: Contract Transparency and Energy Transition’, organized by Divine Era Development and Social Rights Initiative, DEDASRI, and MAWA Foundation in Abuja, they harped on the need for contract disclosures in the sector.
The Executive Director, DEDASRI, Ogechukwu Enwelum, explained that while Nigeria has made progress in the implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI, standards challenges in the sector remain.
Barrister Enwelum pointed out that while Nigeria through the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, has published annual reports that provide detailed information on payments made by companies and revenues received by the government, “there continued to be a huge corruption factor that hinders transparency in the extractive sector”.
According to her, “Often contracts are awarded in secrecy with shoddy arrangements that do not allow the government and the citizens to have a good knowledge of what is going on.
“Efforts made to address issues such as incomplete data, lack of comprehensive reporting, and limited access to information such as active contracts, contract amendments and annexes have not yielded much result. The government and civil society organizations continue to work towards improving transparency and accountability in the sector”.
She however held that publications made by NEITI have helped to promote accountability and transparency in the extractive sector. “The government made commitments to address issues of beneficial ownership and open contracting in the global open government partnership (OGP) initiative and had taken appreciable steps to implement this commitment”, she added.
Enwelum explained that the “#DiscloseThe Deal is a global campaign for the comprehensive disclosure of all contracts relating to the extraction of oil, gas and mineral resources, led by Publish What You Pay (PWYP), a worldwide movement of more than 1,000 member organizations campaigning for open and accountable extractive industries and a people-centered transition to a low-carbon economy”.
In his remark, the Executive Secretary, NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji expressed the willingness of the agency to continue to support and partner with CSOs and other stakeholders to ensure that extractive resources in the country are used to the benefit of citizens.
Represented by Oritseweyinmi Awani, Dr. Orji said NEITI was working to expand its operation across the country by opening offices in the six geopolitical zones.
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