Reps May Strengthen NEITI’s Powers to Recommend Prosecution of Erring Oil Firms, Others

•To back NNPC’s privatisation to boost efficiency

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Federal lawmakers will back any plan to strengthen the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and grant it powers to sanction erring and recalcitrant oil companies, regulators and others, the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), has said.

Speaking when he led a team of lawmakers to the new NEITI office in Abuja yesterday, the downstream committee Chairman, Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, assured that the lawmakers will seek to amend the extant Act to allow it to impose sanctions on entities covered by its audit.

Ugochinyere, who was received by the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, said aside that, the initiative would also require additional funding to be able to carry out its statutory duties.

“(We need) to saddle NEITI with the powers to take disciplinary actions against offenders and also empower NEITI to investigate offences and recommend the prosecution of offenders by relevant investigative anti-corruption agencies of the government.

“Additionally, in the course of such investigations, NEITI should be able to sanction stakeholders who refuse to collaborate with it in the course of discharging its responsibilities like refusal to produce documents requested for by NEITI for investigative purposes.

“Also it will grant powers to sanction manipulative and obstructive tactics by officials of government to prevent NEITI from carrying out its responsibilities,” the lawmakers said.

Ugochinyere said that the law setting up NEITI would be looked into to ensure that the organisation retains some percentage of the funds in situations where its audit reports lead to recovery of monies.

 “Also, we have to find a way to restructure in the amendment of the NEITI Act, a provision that will allow NEITI to keep some certain percentage of what they recover to help them to continue to do this work better.

“We also agree that the fund NEITI is receiving is not enough for the detailed work that it is doing. NEITI needs more funding in terms of budgetary allocations. We also have to find a way to put in the Act a provision that will allow NEITI to keep some certain percentage of what they recover to help them to continue to do this work better,” he stated.

On the non-functional refineries, Ugochinyere disclosed that the committee will be working to ensure that the nation’s refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna which have been moribund for years are privatised.

“For decades, we have been on these refineries issues and we have spent money that they used to build new refineries we could have had two or three. It is important that these refineries are privatised to make them more efficient and so that the Nigerian people can get the benefits required in refining our products locally,” he stressed.

Ugochinyere insisted that privatising the refineries would make them more beneficial to the citizenry since they would provide refined petroleum products domestically.

 “Let me also propose to you one of the things our committee is going to be championing in the days ahead which is the privatisation of some of our nation’s refineries.

“You will agree with me that for decades we have been on these refinery issues. We have spent money that if they use it to build new refineries we would have built two or three. And then we keep maintaining them over time.

“It is better that these refineries are privatised to make them efficient so that Nigerians can get the benefits they require in refining our products domestically,” he added.

He lauded Ogbonnaya for the reforms he had been championing in the extractive industries for the benefit of all Nigerians, affirming that NEITI has taken a commendable position by seeking more investments downstream as it has to do with the building of more private refineries.

In his remarks, Orji promised that NEITI would be available to guide the committee with crucial facts and data it requires to play its oversight role in the industry.

The executive secretary added that the committee came at a time when the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which NEITI fought for came to fruition after 18 years.

 “The implementation of that Act has begun but the fate of that implementation is hanging in the balance. We are waiting for that nerve from a committee like yours to ensure that implementation is effected and continues on the part of success,” he stated.

While inviting the committee to the unveiling of the 2021 NEITI solid minerals audit report on September 4 and oil and gas report on September 18, Orji said the NEITI Act was long overdue for amendment, adding the amendment will place the agency in line with the PIA.

He urged the legislators to ensure that the PIA is implemented faithfully, noting that so far there have been delays in implementing some of its provisions and urged the lawmakers to pressure the relevant stakeholders to do the needful.