Our Responsibility is Public release of Information, Data – NEITI Clarifies Non-Revenue Role

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) asserts that it is not a revenue-producing organisation and that it is not authorised by law to collect, hold, or handle government funds.
By shining a spotlight on leaks, wastages, and other areas where government may maximise its revenue take from the nation’s natural resources, NEITI claims that instead of opposing government, it helps government efforts to mobilise funding for its development initiatives.
The Deputy Director/Head of Communication and Stakeholders’ Management for NEITI, Obiageli Onuorah, announced this in a statement on Wednesday.
Onuorah claimed that a story in the media headed “Lawmaker demands NEITI’s probe over missing $15 billion, N200 billion” made it essential to clarify NEITI’s stance. The story was credited to a senator.
She said that NEITI believed the newest oil and gas industry report, which was presented at a public event on September 18, 2021 in Abuja, to be inaccurate, confusing, and to falsify facts.
She disclosed that 8.26 billion dollars, not the 15 billion as claimed by the congressman in the newspaper report, was the amount of NEITI’s public declaration.
She explained that it was a notification of potential recoverable income owed as outstanding liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
She continued, stating that the NEITI’s revelation of N200 billion Naira in the same report as monies used to restore the country’s refineries between 2020 and 2021, which it questioned in the same report because the refineries weren’t operating, was another discovery.
“The funds in questions and other crucial facts, information and data are contained in the recently released NEITI Report.
“For avoidance of doubt, the core responsibility of NEITI is to release this information and data to the public while it is within the mandates of the legislator, the civil society and the citizens to use the disclosed information for advocacy and civic engagements.
“NEITI is fully aware that the relevant Committees of the National Assembly are currently working closely with NEITI to address the findings and recommendations thrown up by the report.
“It is therefore a misconception and misrepresentation of the position of the law maker calling for the investigation of NEITI over a missing $15 Billion revenue,” she said.
The explanation, according to the deputy director, was required to refocus attention on the rationale behind the NEITI reports’ behaviour.
This, she explained, was done to draw attention to the reports’ conclusions, guarantee improved execution of the recommendations in the NEITI report, solve persistent problems in the extractive industry, and enhance the utilisation of Nigeria’s extractive endowments for the benefit of all Nigerians.

Source: allnewsng.com

EntekHub.com

All Author Posts