NEITI, BPP, BPSR save govt over N2 trillion

Three agencies, the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Institute, (NEITI), Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) yesterday said they have saved the Federal Government up to N1.7 trillion by blocking loopholes that would have been exploited by corrupt persons.

The amount is inclusive of a $2.4 billion foreign currency component.
This disclosure was made by the agencies at the International Anti- Corruption Day celebration in Abuja. The annual event was organized by all agencies with anti- corruption and accountability mandate under the umbrella of the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT). The Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR) provides secretariat for IATT, and is being housed by NEITI.

In her address at the event, Acting Director of Communications of NEITI, Mrs. Obiageli Onuorah, who presented a paper on behalf of the organization, stated that NEITI has so far conducted five cycles of audit in the oil and gas sector, three in solid minerals industry, and one that tracked the revenue shared between the three tiers of government and how the resources were used.

She noted that the audits showed that the difference between what companies paid to government and what government confirmed it received from the oil and gas sector alone in 13 years was $9.8 billion, out of which $2.4 billion has been recovered.

by NEITI in collaboration with other government agencies. The difference, according to her, was a result of underpayments, under assessment of taxes and other process lapses that need to be addressed.
“Details of other incisive revelations by the NEITI audit in the oil, gas and mining sectors have become basis for the on-going massive reforms embarked upon by the present administration. NEITI uses this forum to applaud the government for providing the political will to fight corruption. This political will has made it possible for the on-going restructuring of the NNPC as recommended by NEITI reports”, she said.

Director General of the Bureau for Publice Service Reform, Dr. Joe Abah, told the gathering that the commission had saved the government up to N628 billion in the last seven years, adding that the Integrated Payroll system introduced into the public service had paid off handsomely in curbing corruption.