The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has expressed worries over Nigeria’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s (NEITI) delay in publishing its audit reports.
The body charged with promoting the open and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources globally said the data are not promptly published.
Deputy Executive Director of EITI, Bady Balde, raised the concerns at a briefing after an engagement with NEITI, agencies and ministries in the sector and lawmakers.
According to him, the latest 2021 reports of NEITI were obsolete.
He said, “One of the discussions we had with Dr Orji and the senior management team is the fact that the data here in Nigeria is quite old by the time it comes out.
“The latest data covers 2021 and it was published in September 2023. I assume that as members of the media, that is far from satisfactory because you want to cover present and relevant issues.
“We are now chasing after 2022 data, this is substantially delayed. The reason I am pointing this out is because a number of countries have found ways to produce data that is far more timely than that.”
Balde noted that in Senegal, they already had 2022 data. “When you were producing 2021 data, they had already published 2022 data and they are getting 2023 data. I can tell you that by June, more than half of the data that is required will be out in the public domain,” Balde stated.
To this end, he urged NEITI to ensure that its data are timely, while also tasking journalists reporting the sector to always put both the local and international transparency agencies on their toes.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary, NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya, announced that its 2022 and 2023 audit reports for the oil, gas and mining sectors would be ready in September this year.
He attributed the delay in the release of reports to some local challenges but noted that the concerns have been settled.
“By September this year, 2022 and 2023 reports will be published and we will take it up from there. We had that challenge in the past. The 2022 and 2023 reports are ongoing now and they will be published by September.
“We don’t run a perfect institution and their visit has actually brought out areas that we need to move and move very fast. And I do assure them that by their next visit, all the issues will have been laid to rest and we will set very high new standards,” he asserted.
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