By Joshua Egbodo and Benjamin Umuteme,
Abuja
Executive Secretary Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Dr. Orji Ogbonaya Orji has said between 1999 and 2020, Nigeria earned $741.74 million from oil and gas, and N624 billion from the solid mineral sector.
This was as Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Dr. Mele Kyari, alleged his life was being threatened following some reforms introduced to curb crude oil theft.
The two spoke separately Wednesday at the Transparency and Accountability Summit, organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption with the theme; Enhancing Transparency and Accountability in The Oil and Gas Sector: Challenges and Prospects.
“From our records, between 1999 and 2020, Nigeria has earned $741.74 million from oil and gas alone. From the solid mineral sector, we have already counted in Naira, N624 billion has been earned. In a forum like this, we should be strengthened with data and that is where NEITI will continue to insist that we work with the National Assembly. The National Assembly needs information on what is paid, what is received and what the money is used for, and NEITI has that data”, Orji stated.
He further disclosed that from the work NEITI had done over the years, “it was clear to us that between the point of payment and the point of receipt, a lot of revenue in foreign currency develops wings and fly away and NEITI has the responsibility of tracing where they are, especially if they are monies that ought to accrue to the Federal Government”.
Kyari
On his part, Kyari, while justifying the contract awarded by the federal government to a private security firm to fight crude oil theft, said, “What we discovered was not expected, we didn’t know that this is happening. But the scale is enormous; we have seen pipelines taken from our main trunk lines to abandoned platforms. We have thousands of illegal refineries that we have taken down in the past 45 months.
“This industry is in shortfall of a change, I have several death threats to myself. This is the cost of change, when people walk away from things they are used to, to something that’s new, something that will take away value and benefit from them, they will react.”
EFCC
Also in a message, Chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa said: “My office is currently engrossed in the investigation of allegations of crude oil theft in addition to fighting corruption, which epidemic in many developing oil and gas rich countries, transparency support accountability and reduces inefficiencies.”
Bawa was represented at the event by the EFCC’s head of operations, Michael Wetcas.
In his remarks, Chairman House Committee on Anti-Corruption, Hon. Shehu Garba said the summit was organised with a view to creating a platform where stakeholders could brainstorm on the provisions of the legal and regulatory framework for the oil and gas sector.
NESG on poverty
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Wednesday said Nigeria’s macroeconomic instability is pushing more people below the poverty line.
NESG Chairman Asue Ighodalo said this at the media briefing for the 28th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja.
He said massive economic and social pressures on businesses and individuals were fueling poverty.
According to him, more Nigerians were multidimensionally poor than monetarily poor.
He said: “The World Bank estimates that in 2022 alone, 7 million Nigerians will go into extreme poverty. These socioeconomic pressures are accentuated by rising food inflation and a growing food insecure population that the World Food Programme puts at 61 Million as of October 2022.
“This situation has over 38% of our under-5 children experiencing chronic malnutrition and 70% of our children suffering from Learning Poverty (lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills). Our population faces significant security challenges, made worse by the devastating effects of climate change compounding already aggravated levels of humanitarian crisis. Nigeria’s Internally Displaced Persons Index 2021 shows that we had 3.2 million IDPs as of last year. This year adds an additional 1 million IDPs triggered by flooding that has not only destroyed lives and livelihoods but threatens food sufficiency and security.
“We live in a time of global instability, regional volatility, and national socioeconomic uncertainties that require that we now exceed our own expectations. Yes, national revenues are historically lower than they ever were. Yes, we are sandwiched between two hard-hitting economic recessions and a global pandemic. These are unusual times that characterise what could be described as a perfect storm scenario,” he said.
To tackle these challenges, Ighodalo said there was a need for the country’s leaders to be innovative in their approach to governance.
He said: “These unprecedented challenges call for business unusual, governance unusual – it calls for a whole new paradigm to national socioeconomic transformation – it calls for a new level of transformational political leadership.
“Based on NESG’s macroeconomic scenarios and projections of the future, a transformational political leadership approach with a business unusual mindset, supported by a robust elite, with socially mobilised policies, we can transform our country into the nation of our dreams.
“In five years, Nigeria can become a leading industrializing and reforming nation in Africa that focuses on building its State capacity and capabilities. Our country can break free from decades-long political, policy, legislative and regulatory binding constraints. We can create an enabling investment climate and business environment, underpinned by a motivated, capacitated,” he said.
In his address, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, reiterated the federal government’s commitment to the provision of an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.
The minister noted that while it is the duty of the government to provide the laws, the private sector is expected to drive investments.
According to the minister, the investments would push Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to $11.7 trillion by 2050.
He said: “The private sector will be the engine of growth of the economy, while the government will implement policies and regulations that promote a favourable business environment to achieve a high rate of investment and saving. The investment is necessary to raise the economy to a GDP of $11.7 trillion by 2050, while structural barriers that constrain the vulnerable segment of the society from realizing its potential are addressed.”