MEDIATRACNET
Barely 24 hours after it emerged the top country in Africa and the Middle East for implementation of beneficial ownership principle in the extractive industries, Nigeria has announced plans to formally unveil its national beneficial ownership register next month.
The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, and the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Garba Abubakar, announced the plans at the on-going Conference of State Parties on United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Orji said the unveiling of the register would be undertaken by NEITI as a joint inter-agency collaboration with the CAC in continuation of the Federal Government’s efforts to rid the extractive industries of corruption.
“The NEITI Beneficial Ownership register filled with facts, information and data on who owns what in the oil, gas and mining sectors will merge with CAC Beneficial Ownership Portal that covers all registered companies doing business in Nigeria,” Orji said.
With a National Integrated Beneficial Ownership Portal, Orji said NEITI and CAC would be in a better position to support government’s efforts at growing revenue by checking capital flight, tax evasion, terrorism financing illicit financial flows and outright economic sabotage.
Addressing a special panel on Beneficial Ownership at the Conference in Egypt, Orji identified government’s political will, stakeholders’ consultation, institutional and citizen’s ownership as well as civil society partnership as critical success factors that have led Nigeria’s efforts.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has announced that Nigeria has submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption on the use of Beneficial Ownership information and data disclosure to identify, track, recover and return assets looted or stolen from developing countries.
Malami made the announcement while addressing the 9th Session of Conference of State Parties in progress in Sharm EL Sheikh, Egypt.
The Minister explained that the draft resolution was submitted jointly with the support and partnership of five other developing countries, namely Kenya, Pakistan, Peru, and Saudi Arabia.
The Attorney General informed the UN Convention that Nigeria has put in place institutional structures and legislations to protect Nigeria’s resources.
The Minister conveyed Nigeria’s appeal to the Conference of State Parties of the UN Convention Against Corruption to consider the draft resolution on its merit in view of its strategic importance in recovering looted assets from developing countries.
The Minister led the Nigerian delegation to the Conference comprising heads of key anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, namely NEITI Executive Secretary, EFCC and ICPC Chairmen, and Registrar General of CAC.
The UN Conference is expected to ratify the global anti-corruption strategy for adoption by over 150 countries attending the Conference.
