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Nigeria risks expulsion from EITI over board dissolution

By Collins Olayinka, Abuja
22 July 2015   |   10:33 am
THE international body of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) may suspend Nigeria from its fold as a result of the dissolution of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) board. The NEITI board, also known as National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), was last week dissolved alongside boards of other government parastatals, including that of…

oil-industryTHE international body of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) may suspend Nigeria from its fold as a result of the dissolution of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) board.

The NEITI board, also known as National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), was last week dissolved alongside boards of other government parastatals, including that of universities by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Going down memory lane, Asobie told The Guardian the implications of the dissolution on the enthronement of transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector, stressing the need for the NEITI Board and that of universities to be recalled.

His words: “I want to believe that the President acted in error because this step was taken during our tenure when the government of President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved our board. We quickly wrote that government cannot dissolve the board that came out of international agreements and that was how the government recalled the board. The likely implication of this step is that the EITI will see it as interference in the working of NEITI and will excommunicate Nigeria. This step is particularly dangerous now that the validation process of Nigeria has begun. If the step is not urgently reversed it will erode all the gains Nigeria has made in the implementation of transparency in the extractive industries.”

Asobie also cautioned against dissolution of governing councils of the universities, saying: “Most people in the universities do not know, there is an agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in 1992 that governing councils would be allowed to run their course and should not be subjected to this kind of mass dissolution, will reverse itself in this very important aspect of our national lives.”

On her part, the Executive Director of Koyenum Immalah Foundation (KIF), Nwadishi Faith, also a member of the NEITI board, cautioned against politicising membership of the board.

She explained: “The provision of tenure of NEITI board is very clear. It is a non-renewable five-year tenure. The last government made the same mistake when Assisi Asobie was chairman and we rose against it. If we do caution government that the step has dire consequences, the nation will suffer as a result.’’

2 Comments

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    I am not aware of anyone so far having called for expulsion of Nigeria!

    It is true that there in accordance with the EITI Standard has to be a so called multi-stakeholder group, the NEITI Board in the case of Nigeria. It is equally true that the EITI is acknowledges national processes, such as the reappointment of government entities. If the reappointment drags out extensively, we have a problem.

    When I was part of an EITI delegation that in June met with vice president Osinbajo, there was no doubt about his and the government’s commitment to the EITI. The opposite was true: he hoped to use NEITI findings to underpin reforms.

    Some progress has been made in bringing openness to Nigeria’s oil sector, but there is a lot further to go. Let us to it together.

    Jonas Moberg
    Head EITI International Secretariat