NEITI says Nigeria raked in over $740bn from oil, gas, solid minerals sectors in 21yrs
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Wednesday, disclosed that the country earned $741.5bn and N635.3bn from oil/gas and solid minerals sectors respectively, between 1999 and 2020, a period spanning 21 years.
NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Ogbonnaya Orji, announced this at a stakeholders’ roundtable organised by the agency in Abuja for the review and approval of NEITI 2021 Audit Reports for the oil, gas and solid minerals sectors.
The latest audit reports were submitted to the agency by the independent administrators – Messrs Taju Audu & Co, and Amedu Onekpe & Co.
“So far, NEITI has conducted a total of 13 cycles of reconciliatory reports in the oil and gas sector and 11 cycles of reports in the solid minerals sector. These reports have disclosed a total revenue earnings to the government of $741.48bn from the oil and gas sector and N635.3bn from the solid minerals sector,” the NEITI boss, Orji said in his address at the event.
It would be recalled that diverse stakeholder groups comprising the media, industry investors, regulators and civil society, last Wednesday, approved the provisional extractive industry report on Nigeria for the 2021 operating year.
In a hybrid event hosted virtually and in-person at the office of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in Abuja, the stakeholder groups unanimously approved the interim report for solidification and imminent public presentation.
The report whose contents expose huge financial losses and process breaches would now lay critical agenda for regulators and anti-corruption agencies in closing financial leakages in the petroleum and solid minerals sectors of the economy.
The report also hinted of further studies by NEITI to ascertain the integrity of resource managers at state and local government levels.
Executive Secretary of NEITI, Orji, who hosted the event, made it clear that key contents of the report are currently embargoed for media reports until all observations and recommendations by stakeholders moderate the final output.
The Oracle Newspapers reports that the NEITI Report for 2021, financial year tracked all production and transaction lines in the petroleum and solid minerals sectors for the period and examined related revenue flows for breaches and shortfalls.
While it is clear that enormous breaches involving billions of dollars were uncovered in the report, Oracle Today Newspapers cannot mention figures until the report is officially released for public presentation.
Dr Orji said NEITI adopted foolproof methodology used by indigenous auditing firms in reaching conclusions that formed policy advisory already shared with the government.
He said NEITI partnered credible local and international agencies in verifying data volunteered by companies and state agencies audited in the process.
He said the indigenous consultants deployed in the industry auditing process have good performance reputation, adding that the overall objective is to provide empirical and evidence based data that would enable citizens demand accountability on funds yielded by the industry for provision of social services and infrastructure.
He made it clear that NEITI is building and providing credible basis for citizens to hold political and industry leaders accountable for resource wealth.
“Natural resources should work for all Nigerians, and not just a few,” Dr Ogbonnaya Orji declared.
