According to the Nigeria Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the removal of fuel subsidies will release Nigeria from economic bondage and benefit the majority of its population, particularly those who are impoverished.
NED 2022 stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Tuesday heard this from NEITI executive secretary Dr Ogbonnaya Orji.
Research policy advisors are being developed by NEITI to explain the costs of fuel subsidies to Nigeria, its director said. The publication will include facts and figures to support NEITI’s position on subsidy removal. NEITI’s position will be supported by the research policy advisors.
It is important to have this dialogue because countries participating in the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) 2019 are required to disclose all transactions, including licenses granted and amended, in order to free their economies from shackles. This would benefit the poor majority while hurting the few wealthy individuals who have benefited from the subsidy transactions.
According to the executive secretary, “from January 2021, it will also require publicizing the terms and conditions for oil, gas, or mineral exploration.”
With regard to 2021’s Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), he stated that it mandates NUPRC to publish all new licenses and contracts as soon as they’re granted and signed by NUPRC’s executive board.
“In June 2021, Nigeria was appointed as the Chair of the EITI global network on contract transparency. My network is tasked with creating a framework for contract disclosures, and I serve as its chair.
“Nigeria is one of the network’s 20 EITI implementation countries. To my delight, NEITI is currently coordinating efforts to carry out these critical responsibilities and activate PIA provisions related to contract disclosures.
“NEITI is the secretariat of an inter-agency committee on contract transparency in the extractive sector. An overarching objective of the project is to enable governments and businesses to evaluate the energy industry.
Aiming to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for the efficient management of natural resource benefits and the transition from fossil fuel to a renewable energy regime,” he stated.