• NOSDRA, NIPC floors EFCC, ICPC on integrity index
The House of Representatives Joint Committee investigating the environmental consequences of crude oil transportation and oil spills, allegedly caused by Aiteo E&P and Oando Oil Limited (formerly Nigerian Agip Oil Company), has given their management seven days to appear before it.
Meanwhile, the 2024 Transparency and Integrity Index (TII) has ranked the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) above Nigeria’s two leading anti-corruption agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The lawmakers, who decried the impact of the oil spill on host communities and the means of livelihood, threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the firms following their failure to appear before the panel.
Aiteo E&P and Oando Oil were invited by the lower chamber to provide detailed explanations regarding their operations in the Niger Delta region but were absent at the hearing.
Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Julius Gbabojor, issued the warning at the opening of the investigative hearing yesterday.
While he frowned on the level of disregard for the Parliament, Gbabojor said the committee had sent four letters to the companies inviting them to the hearing, but the firms have been evading summons by the panel.
The panel ruled that the firms must appear before the panel within one week; otherwise, relevant legislative powers would be invoked to compel their appearance.
The TII study was conducted by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), in collaboration with the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI), to promote transparency and accountability initiatives across public institutions.
While the highest 77.92 per cent score achieved in 2024 is higher than the 72.26 per cent of 2023, only the first two ranked institutions, NOSDRA and NIPC, had excellent scores, the ICPC and the EFCC scored 24.86 per cent and eight per cent respectively to sit on 19th and 337th positions respectively.
According to the findings presented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, while NOSDRA emerged as the top performer with a total score of 77.92 per cent, the NIPC followed closely in the second position with 71.53 per cent.
While the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) held the third position with 60.17 per cent, the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) claimed the fourth spot with 44.93 per cent, and the Bank of Industry (BOI) held the fifth place with 39.43 per cent.
