NEITI to Unveil Roadmap on Energy Transition, Plans National Dialogue

Emmanuel Addeh

 The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, has announced that a roadmap on Nigeria’s engagements in the energy transition programme will be unveiled soon.

Speaking in Abuja at a workshop held by NEITI in collaboration with Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) based in the United States, Orji explained that the roadmap will contain information and data to drive the implementation of the government’s overall energy transition plan recently approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The NEITI chief executive also disclosed that the workshop was organised to seek the views and advise of NEITI’s board and senior management team as well as the collaboration of the NRGI in relation to the subject matter.

“The transition from carbon-based energy to renewable energy has far-reaching implications for the global economy, particularly Nigeria. The implications for Nigeria, a highly natural resource revenues dependent country, are very huge, especially with regard to energy security, citizens livelihood, job opportunities and economic development,” he noted.

The Chairman of the NEITI Board, Mr. Olusegun Adekunle, in his remarks, reaffirmed the commitment of the board to provide NEITI with the required policy direction that aids the development of the road map.

He described energy transition as the future of the industry and charged workshop’s participants to take advantage of the programme to build their skills and improve their knowledge on energy transition.

West African Regional Manager of NRGI, Ms. Nafi Chinery, underlined the need to include diversification of Nigeria’s economy as one of the priorities in the country’s energy transition response.

In his message, the Minister of Environment, Mr. Mohammed Abdullahi, represented by the Head Environmental Impact Assessment, Mr Celestine Gomwalk, disclosed that a national council on climate change had been established by the ministry to support the implementation of energy transition programme.