From Uche Usim, Abuja
In a move aimed at deepening transparency and accountability, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) is partnering with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and other relevant agencies to have a functional Beneficial Ownership register that contains the real owners of companies operating in the extractive sector.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, made the disclosure in Abuja on Monday while presenting the Open Government Partnership (OPG) award to President Muhammadu Buhari through the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba.
According to him, the new register will be what various stakeholders can use in their operations, adding that NEITI will establish a joint coordination committee in June this year.
Orji said; “I am delighted to present to the Minister the Open Government Partnership (OGP) award won by Nigeria in December 2021, during the last Global Summit of OGP member countries held in Seoul, South Korea.
“Nigeria is implementing both the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and Open Government Partnership (OGP)- two very important global multi-stakeholder governance initiatives that share core similarities and commitments to deliver on transparency and open governance in member’s countries.
In his remarks, the minister, Clem Agba said he has written a memo to President Buhari for Nigeria to join the league of Beneficial Ownership Leadership Forum.
According to him, the relevant ministries that are required to put in their comments have done so, adding, “we are getting closer to being a member of that Beneficial Ownership Leadership Forum.”
The minister also revealed that the Federal Government was accomplishing so much infrastructural development amid less and depleted revenues.
He noted that for several years, while the country had surplus revenues, previous administrations were only budgeting funds for the Second Niger Bridge without executing the project.
According to him, the incumbent administration has built the bridge to link Delta State to Anambra State in the face of paucity of funds.
“One good thing is that this government is doing more in terms of infrastructural development with less revenue available, unlike when we had so much revenue but there wasn’t any infrastructure to show.
“Today, we see projects. We can touch on the projects. We can feel the projects. The Second Niger Bridge is no longer a story.
“We were told about it before, for so many years it was budgeted for but we never saw anything. But now that bridge is connected from Delta to Anambra” he noted.
Agba, who urged the citizenry to also narrate the positive side of Nigeria’s story, noted that the people only tell about what is yet to be done.
He said only those in the diaspora appreciate the country for the good efforts of the present administration.