ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE EXTRACTIVE SECTOR
The Accountability in Extractive Sector (AES) Cluster, led by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), within the framework of strengthening civic advocacy and local engagement (SCALE) project, met recently to highlight the accountability deficits within the extractive sector which literally deprives the nation of many benefits. The cluster notes that the extractive sector in Nigeria suffers from corruption resulting from lack of transparency and accountability in governance. So far, the reforms made to address corruption in the extractive sector have fallen short of desired goals. Year- in- year out the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative rolls out heart-breaking figures of unremitted and unaccounted funds that could have been channeled into meaningful development for the good of the citizens.
It is our belief that the efficient and effective management of extractive sector resources will reduce poverty and inequality in Nigeria. To this effect, the cluster is committed to: One, strengthening the capacity of extractive cluster members and other stakeholders to undertake sector specific advocacy; two, advocating for a sustainable implementation of beneficial ownership disclosure regime and contract transparency legislative/policy framework for the management of the extractive sector; three, advocating budgetary allocation for the implementation of the open beneficial ownership register in Nigeria; four, increasing awareness on the sector governance among citizens including youths for transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.
We will not fail to highlight that this commitment was made by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to implement a beneficial ownership register of owners of all entities in the country and most importantly the need for this to be effectively implemented within the extractive sector and also within the EITI 2019 standards. Nigeria is committed to publish the contract of every transaction made within the extractive sector with effect from January 2021. The benefits and efforts in the effective implementation of BO transparency in the extractive sector is a critical component of the government’s commitment to the OGP initiative in Nigeria, towards advancing accountability and improving domestic resource mobilization for sustainable development financing.
In advancement of the above objectives, the cluster has undertaken a series of mutually reinforcing engagements specifically towards beneficial ownership transparency, implementation of the NEITI audit report remediation recommendations and contract transparency initiative in Nigeria. As you may recall, beneficial ownership transparency sits within the framework of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative which the Nigerian government signed up to in July 2016, following President Buhari’s commitment to a full-scale anti-corruption agenda – accountable, participatory, and inclusive government, to respond to developmental deficits in Nigeria.
This event thus offers a good opportunity to remind us the tenets of OGP which we signed up as a country, a mission to acknowledge all the doers, thinkers, creators and reformers who have successfully opened governments around the world. It aims specifically to highlight and amplify the necessity and public demands for the application of Open Data Standards in the BO register, stronger Inter-agency collaborations, issuance of effective regulations to strengthen foreign entities’ disclosures and sanctions regime, and sustainable funding mechanism for the establishment and maintenance of a BO register. This is to enhance the effective implementation of BO transparency in the Nigerian extractive sector.
The cluster which is anchored by CISLAC, comprises of Community Conciliation and Development Initiative (CCADI) from Rivers State; Support for Training and Entrepreneurship Program (STEP) from Akwa Ibom State; Good Governance Team (GGT) Nigeria based in Abuja; Connected Advocacy for Empowerment & Youth Development Initiative (Connected Advocacy) from Edo State, and others.
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani is the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre
