NEITI OPENS UP ON OIL INDUSTRY

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has added its weighty verdict to the on-going rating of the Nigerian oil and gas sector, saying on Sunday that the strategic sector is a haven of corruption.
The organisation in a s statement that was signed by its Director of Communications, Mr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji that the report of the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on fuel subsidy probe has vindicated it.

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has added its weighty verdict to the on-going rating of the Nigerian oil and gas sector, saying on Sunday that the strategic sector is a haven of corruption.
The organisation in a s statement that was signed by its Director of Communications, Mr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji that the report of the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on fuel subsidy probe has vindicated it.
The NEITI disclosed that although it had made similar shocking revelations through its audits in the past, its recommendations were never implemented by the Federal Government, but added that  on the strength of the revelations, it  was now on the alert in its ongoing audit of the industry from 2008 to 2011.
Orji said, “For NEITI, the preliminary findings of  the ad hoc committee were not surprising given the prevailing  poor  institutional linkages, infrastructural weakness, governance and process lapses as well as some kind of   impunity which appear to frustrate  all efforts at enthroning openness, transparency and good business ethics in the oil and gas industry over the years.
“NEITI has conducted three different cycles of independent audits in the oil and gas industry. Each of this cycle of industry audits issued a comprehensive report with findings and recommendations which   clearly identified and highlighted the problems within the sector, proposed solutions and ways to implement them.
“NEITI reports had made similar shocking revelations in the areas of under-payments and receipts, poor computation of financial flows, physical crude liftings and general concerns on management of the processes. But the reports got very little or no attention.
“The implementation of the remedial issues in the NEITI Audit Reports over these years had remained one of the major challenges in spite of the efforts being made by NEITI under the Inter Ministerial Task Team set up by the Federal Government for this purpose.”
He said the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee preliminary report had put NEITI and its auditors on the “red alert” on the need for a thorough job in the ongoing NEITI comprehensive audit just commenced.
“The audit, which  covers the period,  2009- 2011, for oil and gas industry  and the solid minerals sector for the period 2007 – 2010, is to be concluded by the end of this year,” he added.
“Since  the scope of the ongoing comprehensive audit this time covers the downstream sector (including subsidy payments), the  NEITI Executive Secretary, Zainab Ahmed, has already  and  publicly directed the auditors to demonstrate courage, competence, integrity and professionalism in the discharge of this sensitive national assignment,” Orji said.