The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed plans to release the three reports on the oil, gas, and mining sectors in June.
This is contained in a statement issued by the agency and signed by its Head of Communication, Mrs. Obiageli Onuorah in Abuja.
It explained that the ongoing nationwide audit of the oil, gas and mining industries covering 168 extractive companies and relevant federal agencies is currently at the data reconciliation stage.
“The exercise covering the period 2021 is holding in different parts of the country,” the statement partly reads.
According to the statement, the Executive Secretary of NEITI Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya explained that the objectives of the reports are to establish the quantities of minerals produced, utilized in the country and the quantity of crude legally or illegally exported or stolen.
“NEITI reports also seek to establish the revenue paid by oil, gas and mining companies and how much of such revenues were actually received into government coffers.
“Other areas of focus by NEITI are to identify investments made by the Federation or the Federal Government in the oil, gas and mining industries, track subsidy payments, company remittances and liabilities,” the statement added.
He explained that a total of 66 companies’ oil and gas companies and 14 government agencies were covered and currently working with NEITI in the sector audit.
He further noted that the level of cooperation between companies and government agencies covered by the audit are encouraging
“From the preliminary reports I have reviewed, 62 companies fully complied with detailed information and data as contained in NEITI templates/checklist while we await full compliance by only 4 companies.
“In the Solid Minerals Sector, 102 companies are undergoing the NEITI audit. The exercise which has reached advanced stage has recorded full compliance by 92 while NEITI is following 10 companies very closely,” the statement further read.
In the fiscal allocation and statutory disbursement audit, he said NEITI is examining revenues received from oil, gas and mining-producing states and statutory relevant government agencies and the utilisation of such revenues for development projects.
“In this particular NEITI audit, 9 states and 14 Federal Agencies are covered. The states are Gombe, Nasarawa, Rivers, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Imo, Kano and Ondo State. Out of the 9 states, only two are yet to fully provide NEITI with relevant information and data,” he said.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
