*Aligns with anti-graft agencies to enforce sanctions in extractive industries
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) have resolved to establish a joint coordination committee to identify, document and disclose the real owners of Nigeria’s oil, gas and mining assets.
The decisions were taken at a meeting between the management of the two agencies held in Abuja.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji said: “The exclusion of information about our natural resources was at a huge cost to the Nigerian economy and affected Nigeria’s optimisation of revenues from its natural resource wealth. With your cooperation and reputation, we can help our government fight the resource course which is the reason the EITI and NEITI exist.
“The knowledge reposed in the two agencies makes it important for us to work together to ensure that the commitment made by Nigeria to the international community on effective implementation of Beneficial Ownership in the extractive industry is realised.”
The Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, pledged CAC’s commitment to partner with NEITI towards meeting the compliance standards set by the global EITI in beneficial ownership reporting.
“The CAC is already working on a comprehensive beneficial ownership register that will be a global standard.”
He disclosed that since January 3, 2021, all companies registering to do business in Nigeria were required to disclose the identity of their real owners.
“This information became a requirement by the CAC for purposes of beneficial ownership information in public interest for anyone who needs it and at no cost to other government agencies.”
Meanwhile, NEITI is also collaborating with law enforcement agencies to enforce compliance and sanctions in the extractive industries sector.
Orji said the agency would be signing MoUs with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
He stressed that compliance had been a challenge to extractive industries transparency initiative.
He said: “One of the challenges we have in implementing the EITI is compliance and enforcement. You are aware that reports are published in Nigeria and is usually a challenge to implement.
“This is because agencies just don’t think to do so. If there are no sanctions or incentives; sanctions for refusing to implement, incentives for doing well, everybody moves on and that is the bane of our society.”
Orji added: “That is why we said that we will have to align with those who have very powerful machineries to enforce sanctions. So, in the next couple of days, we will be signing a draft MoU between us and the EFCC and it is being reviewed by the two organisations.
“The draft with the ICPC is being reviewed by the two organisations and the draft with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit is also being reviewed.”
He said all parties had given themselves this month of May to sign the MoUs.
He said each of these agencies has been encouraged to establish professional extractive industry desks equipped with staff with requisite training in that area.
“In the EFCC, we have geologists, geoscientists and people who have worked in the oil and gas industry. If they don’t have, they will engage and when our reports are released, we share with them,” he stated.