The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Oil Producers Trade Section have held meetings with mining companies and oil companies to discuss ways to improve accountability and transparency in the country’s solid minerals and oil and gas industries.
The Punch reported that OPTS organized the forum in Lagos, where the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya, led a team of attendees. Other attendees included representatives from Oando Plc, Platform Petroleum, ND Western, and the National President of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Dele Ayanleke.
During her speech, Ogbonnaya described the NEITI-Companies Forum as a platform that the organization uses to assist the country and its operating companies in adhering to the international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
He emphasized that participation in the EITI process at the highest level was required and promised that NEITI would collaborate with OPTS to enhance and fortify the Companies Forum, which he claimed had suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He clarified that the forum’s purpose was to give businesses the chance to evaluate NEITI’s work, ask questions when needed, get clarifications without having to send letters and comprehend their responsibilities as forum members.
He added that NEITI was the review mechanism on how to adhere to transparency, accountability, and good governance, and that companies’ participation in EITI’s activities had an impact on the companies’ corporate reputation globally.
Ogbonnaya stated that the primary purpose of NEITI was to support and foster an environment that would enable businesses to conduct business, as opposed to acting in a way or saying things that would harm a company’s reputation.
The Executive Director of OPTS, Gwueke Ajaifia, had earlier in his opening remarks stated that his organization had been in discussions with NEITI regarding ways to fortify the Forum, interact with the major players in each of the companies, and guarantee that a greater number of people attend the next forum.
According to him, the data and information released by NEITI is crucial for all stakeholders in Nigeria as it enables the country’s citizens to have a better understanding of the fate of its natural resources.
