Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)

•  To give Sagay committee particulars of oil companies owing $7bn

Chineme Okafor in Abuja
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Sunday said that it will give the new Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, all institutional supports needed to recover a certain $11.6 billion revenue from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) which NNPC allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account.

Similarly, it indicated that it will present to the newly constituted presidential advisory committee against corruption particulars of oil and gas companies that are operating in Nigeria but still owing an outstanding $7 billion crude oil revenue to the country over the years as underpayments and under-assessments.

NEITI, which disclosed its delight with the ongoing restructuring at NNPC, said in a statement from its secretariat in Abuja that the constitution of the Prof. Itsay Sagay-led committee last week by President Muhammadu Buhari presents to it another opportunity to pursue the recovery of the fund, using such high level governmental framework.

The statement was signed by NEITI’s Director of Communication, Orji Ogbonnanya Orji, and it described the Sagay committee as a good platform for all the 21 anti-corruption agencies in the country which are coordinated by the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption (TUGAR) under the chairmanship of NEITI to share information and offer informed advice based on experiences garnered over the years in the fight against corrupt practices in Nigeria.

It said in this regards that: “One important issue that NEITI will be bringing to the table if given opportunity is how the committee can assist the government to recover over $7 billion owed by oil companies.

“These disclosures are contained in NEITI audit reports as cases of under payments, under assessments arising from subjective interpretation of MoUs and tax laws. We have no doubt that our contributions will add value to the work of the committee.”

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NEMA: More Fake IDPs Troop to Camps, as NHRC Expresses Concern

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja 

Amidst several appeals by humanitarian and civil society organisations to the Nigerian government to intervene in the huge challenges facing the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Sunday that the major challenge facing the agency in its work -- with respect to the displaced persons, is “knowing who is an IDP and who is not.’’

On its part, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said the security situation in the country had resulted in the displacement of millions of Nigerians, who now take refuge in inhabitable environments with serious threat to their mental and physical existence.

The two federal government’s agencies noted these points after a meeting at the weekend in Abuja to deliberate on the challenges facing the IDPs in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other parts of the country.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary to the NHRC, Mr. Lambert Oparah, stated yesterday that the meeting was sequel to a letter of urgent national importance by his boss, Professor Bem Angwe, requesting NEMA to intervene in a matter affecting IDPs in the country, especially in Abuja.

According to Oparah, “NEMA Director-General, Muhammadu Sanni, who led the officials from NEMA, disclosed that a major challenge facing the agency in its work with respect to displaced persons is knowing who is an IDP and who is not.

“According to him, many people now troop to camps or find settlements in unoccupied areas in the name of IDPs with intent to get relief materials or attract sympathisers. However, he stressed that NEMA has set up camps in all the conflict areas, which he said have been receiving adequate attention from agency officials.’’

The NEMA’s boss was also quoted as saying that the humanitarian outlook of Nigeria is made more complex by frequent communal clashes, especially between pastoralists and farmers, which has displaced so many Nigerians from their comfort homes.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of NHRC has said that security must be balanced with human rights, calling for an urgent need for a stakeholders’ forum to address the IDPs issues in the country.

He said it was in an attempt to address some of the issues arising from IDPs camps that his agency in collaboration with the United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) deployed 310 monitors in the north-east and north-central parts of the country to observe the human rights situation in those camps.

However, THISDAY gathered last night that a stakeholders’ meeting would be convened on Wednesday in Abuja, to address some of the identified issues.

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