The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NEITI

  • Nigeria’s poor ranking in governance worries NEITI

    Nigeria’s poor ranking in governance worries NEITI

    The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has expressed concern over the poor ranking of the nation in the recent global report issued by the Revenue Watch Institute.

    The report, which measured quality of extractive industries governance in 58 counties, ranked Nigeria in the 40th position out of the 58 resource-rich countries across the world. According to the ranking, the extractive industries governance in Nigeria is very weak.

    The assessment was conducted using the quality of four key governance components. These include institutional and legal setting; reporting practices; safeguards and quality controls and enabling environment. Information on three special mechanisms used commonly to govern oil, gas and mineral, which are state-owned companies, natural resource funds and subnational revenue transfers were also considered.

    NEITI Director of Communication, Dr. Orji  Ogbonnaya Orji disclosed the concern of the transparency organisation in a statement yesterday.

    He said from the report, Nigeria fared better in institutional and legal setting because of the existence of several legislations on openness and transparency, including NEITI Act, 2007 and Freedom of Information Act. On the enabling environment, Nigeria was poorly rated by the report, the statement said.

    As an agency set up with a mandate to enthrone transparency, accountability and good governance in the extractive sector, NEITI is concerned about Nigeria’s poor ranking in the report. NEITI believes that the slow pace of implementation of findings and recommendations contained in series of its audit reports since 1999 has contributed to the poor ranking of Nigeria, the report indicated.

    Although an Inter-Ministerial Task Team was set up to address the findings and recommendations of NEITI audit reports under a remediation plan developed by the team, implementation by affected government agencies have recorded little progress. For instance, NEITI audit reports have consistently recommended inter-agency collaboration to recover an outstanding sum of $9.6 billion from companies.

  • NEITI gets 2009-2011 audit report

    The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Board has received the report of outstanding physical and process components of 2009-2011oil and gas audit from Sada Idris &Co.

    In a statement, NEITI Director, Communication, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated that NEITI expanded the scope of the audit in line with the economic reality in the sector.

    He said the organisation is ready to publish the report as soon as the Board reviews and approves it.

    According to Orji, NEITI has started the process of getting a World Bank financial assistance for setting up an automated audit system.

    He said the report submitted by the firm would contain detailed work on the scope of the project, such as collation, validation and analyses of data on petroleum profit tax, royalty, cash calls, and equity crude.

    He said other important areas in the report include terminal balances and upstream crude oil mass balance,product importation and distribution processes mass balance.

    According to him, the firm has completed technical assessment and measurement processes as well as examined the processes of Federation equity crude pricing and gas utilisation, among others.

    Continuing, he said: “In addition, examination of systems and procedures in key covered entities, such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has also been successfully completed and analysed in the report expected today.

  • NEITI member gets into EITI board

    A member of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), Faith Nwadishi has been nominated as a full member of the International Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

    The EITI International Board, chaired by a former Member of the British House of Commons, Clair Short is the highest policy making organ of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative operating in about 45 countries, including Nigeria.

    NEITI Director of Communications, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, said in a statement yesterday, that Ms. Nwadishi is to represent the Civil Society in the International Board made up of 20 members drawn from member countries across the world.

    Until her appointment, Faith Nwadishi, was the National Coordinator of Publish What You Pay (PWYP), which is reputed worldwide for championing the campaign for companies to disclose publicly what they pay to government in form of royalties, levies and taxes  and for governments to also declare what they receive.

    Orji said the concept of public disclosure which Ms. Faith Nwadishi and her organisation are associated with, is based on the extractive industries transparency principles that data on extractive industries payment and receipts are fundamental to ensuring that resources from oil, gas and mining from rich countries aid national development reduce poverty through transparent and prudent management.

  • NNPC withdrew N1.4tr subsidy from crude sales – Report

    NNPC withdrew N1.4tr subsidy from crude sales – Report

    Contrary to the practice where subsidy payments are claimed from the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) through the Petroleum Product Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) by all qualified companies, the Nigerian National Petroleum Regulatory Corporation (NNPC) allegedly withdrew subsidy payment of N1.40 trillion from domestic crude oil sales proceeds before remittance to the Federation Account from 2009 to 2011.

    This fact was revealed by the Independent Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report, covering 2009 to 2011, put together by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

    The reported noted that subsidy payments claimed by NNPC increased by 110 per cent, as the payments rose from N198 billion in 2009 to N416 billion in 2010.

    NEITI chairman, Mr. Ledum Mitee, who presented the report in Abuja on Thursday, said in 2011 alone, the subsidy payments rose to N786 billion and the increase between 2009 and 2011 was 186 per cent.

    His words: “The financial report clearly underlines that contrary to the practice where subsidy payments are claimed from the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) through PPPRA by all qualified oil marketing companies, that the NNPC draws subsidy payments directly from domestic crude sales proceeds before remittances to the Federation Account. As a result a sum of N1.40 trillion was claimed during the period by NNPC as oil subsidy payments.”

    The report noted that financial flows from the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) include dividends and repayment of loans of which $4.84 billion was received by the corporation.

    The report confirmed that these amounts have not been remitted neither to the Central Bank of Nigeria /NNPC JP Morgan Account nor the Federation Account.

     

     

  • FG lost N1.3tr to underpayments, under-assessment – NEITI

    FG lost N1.3tr to underpayments, under-assessment – NEITI

    The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Friday said that its previous audit reports revealed revenue losses of N1.3 trillion from under-assessments and underpayments by companies.

    NEITI Board Chairman, Mr. Ledum Mitee, disclosed this in Uyo while addressing journalists at the end of a five-day retreat for members of NEITI National Stakeholders Working Group.

    Mitee said the NEITI Board had resolved to sanction companies found to have tendered false information or failed to provide their statements of accounts.

    He said that public officers, whose actions had caused under-assessment or underpayment of revenue to the Federal Government, would be exposed.

    “We shall invoke the statutory sanctions against relevant government agencies identified to have willingly frustrated the implementation of remedial issues in NEITI Audit Reports.

    “NEITI can no longer sit down and allow these recoverable funds accruable to the Federal Government remain with defaulting companies.

    “It will do good to recover these funds to finance the deficits in our annual budgets,” Mitee said.

    He called for greater support from the media, civil society organisations and law enforcement agencies to the activities of NEITI.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the retreat had the theme “From Transparency to Accountability.”