Civil society organisations, Publish What You Pay, Nigeria and Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA), have written to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to bring his attention to the anomalies in the constitution of the previous National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG).
The groups noted that this is also known as the Board of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
In the letter dated February 11, 2024, and addressed to the SGF, George Akume, the anomalies have negatively affected the independence and effectiveness of the board, and overall implementation of EITI in Nigeria.
The letter signed by Publish What You Pay, Nigeria National Coordinator,Comrade Taiwo Otitolaye and Mr. Adebayo Titus of the Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA), is titled, ‘Open Letter On The Constitution of National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Board.’
It reads, “We write to bring to the attention of the SGF, the anomalies in the constitution of the previous National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) also known as the Board of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
“The constitution of NSWG is expected to be done in compliance with sections 6 and 12 of NEITI Act as well as requirements 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 of the 2023 EITI standard.
“In the past, the provisions of sections 6(2a) and 12(2a) of the NEITI Act 2007 and requirements 1.2 and 1.3 of the EITI standard were breached.
“It is important to note that this breach was owing to the deliberate manipulation by NEITI's Management led by its Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, who is always bent on determining members of the NSWG, to enable him capture NEITI and its operations for his own for unofficial reasons.
“This has negatively affected the independence and effectiveness of the board, and overall implementation of EITI in Nigeria.
“The immediate past Board under the chairmanship of Barrister Olusegun Adekunle (former Permanent Secretary in the SGF office) stands out to be the worst in the history in of NEITI. The outcome of recent global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) validation exercise, particularly its assessment on NSWG/MSG governance clearly established this fact.
“The anomalies in the constitution of the NSWG led to Weak Government Oversight of the NEITI's Secretariat and affected Nigeria's overall performance in the implementation of EITI. This point is clearly stated in validation report.
“Sir, it is also important to bring to your attention that the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, who was also the Secretary of that Board, is at the heart of many of the issues raised by the global EITI in its Validation report on Nigeria.”
The groups, therefore, urged the SGF to “prevent these negative influences in constituting the next Board”.
“The essence of this letter is to guide the SGF when reconstituting the NSWG in order to avoid the repeat of the past and put our dear country, Nigeria on the path of progress in the implementation of the global EITI.
“Sir, we're making this an open letter because past letters written by several concerned organizations and individuals were not allowed to get to the SGF.
“Sir, we sincerely hope the issues raised in this letter will guide your further actions on this subject.”