The Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) says it will on Thursday this week unveil its biennial report from an assessment of Nigeria’s petroleum sector which covers from 2017 to 2019.

The Benchmark Exercise Report (BER) scheduled for launch in Abuja would identify petroleum sector progress and areas for improvements.

A statement by NNRC, a non-profit policy institute on natural resource governance, on Monday in Abuja, said the report would empower stakeholders to advocate for best practices within their various spheres of work in the sector.

“It assesses Nigeria’s petroleum sector against 12 Precepts to offer guidance on key decisions faced by the government, beginning with whether to extract resources in the first place, and ending with decisions that determine how generated revenue can produce maximum good for citizens. The 2019 Report provides an update on the last two years of petroleum sector governance, examined gaps in sector transparency and reported changes”, the statement added.

NNRC said it will also hold a dialogue session which will focus on its overarching precondition for effective petroleum resource management; precept 1 determining whether Nigeria’s ‘strategy, legal and institutional framework governing the petroleum sector ‘secures the greatest benefit for citizens through and inclusive and comprehensive national strategy, clear legal framework and competent institutions.’

According to Tengi George-Ikoli, the Program Coordinator, Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC), “the release of the Report comes at an opportune time given the recent reforms instituted by the government and the omnibus reform in the form of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) being championed by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources”.

Ms George-Ikoli added that “the governance gaps have been well articulated in the 2019 BER and we believe that if appropriately addressed in the bill and subsequently implemented, Nigeria would have made appreciable improvement captured with a ‘green’ in areas where it largely still remains at a ‘red’.

“From the findings, there were marginal changes from the 2017 BER with 10 ‘ambers’ and 2 ‘reds’ being recorded. The ‘reds’ have persisted against precept 5 and 6, the precepts that assesses the impacts of extraction on host communities and the commercial effectiveness of the national oil company; NNPC”.