Waziri Adio, executive secretary of the Nigeria
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI),
says the country earned $592bn from the oil and gas
sector from 1999 to 2014 but there is a little change in
the standard of living of citizens.
Adio said this in a statement issued by Orji
Ogbonnaya, NEITI spokesman.

Speaking at a workshop organised by Publish What
You Pay, a civil society organisation in the extractive
sector, Adio, who was represented by Ogbonnaya,
called for a closer partnership with the civil society to
enable it to implement remedial issues contained in its
reports of the oil and gas industry.

According to the statement, “the executive secretary
explained that while it is the responsibility of NEITI to
provide the information and data, it is the duty of the
civil society to use the same information and data to
hold government and companies accountable”.
“NEITI’s presentation at the workshop disclosed that
Nigeria earned a total of $592.34 billion from the oil
and gas sector from 1999 to 2014,” the statement
read.

“On the solid minerals sector, NEITI also disclosed that
about N143.5 billion was earned from the sector
between 2007 and 2014.

“Adio expressed concerns that despite the huge
revenues earned by government over the years, there
is little change in the living standards of majority of
Nigerians and in the development of infrastructure.”
The NEITI chief also urged civil society groups to be
more vigilant and to ensure that future earnings from
the sector translate to national development and
support poverty reduction.

“He identified the slow pace of implementing NEITI’s
industry audit findings and recommendations as one
of the weakest links in EITI implementation in Nigeria
and tasked Publish What You Pay to lead a robust civil
society activism and engagements with relevant
government agencies to implement NEITI reports,” the
statement said.

“Mr Adio described Publish What You Pay as an
important global civil society organisation in a vantage
position to lead advocacy for translating NEITI reports
into results which is capable of bringing about the
desired reforms in Nigeria’s oil, gas and mining
sectors.”

TheCable