The three audit reports on the extractive industry are ready and are to be released next month, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has announced.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, who announced on Thursday in Abuja that the reports covered the oil & gas, mining sectors of the economy as well as the Fiscal Allocation and Statutory Disbursement audit report on allocation to the three tiers of government through the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Orji said further details of the reports showed that the nationwide audit of the activities of the oil, gas and mining industries conducted by the transparency and accountability agency on 168 extractive companies and relevant federal agencies were currently at the data reconciliation stage.
The transparency and accountability Chief said the exercise covering the period 2021 was held in different parts of the country.
“The objectives of the reports are to establish the quantities of minerals produced and utilised in the country as well as the quantity of crude oil exported legally or illegally stolen.
“NEITI reports also seek to establish the revenues paid by oil, gas and mining companies to the government and how much of such revenues were actually received into government coffers during the year under review.
“Other areas of focus in the report by NEITI identifying investments made by the Federation or the Federal Government in the oil, gas and mining industries; track subsidy payments on petroleum products supplies; company remittances, and liabilities,” Orji said.
The NEITI Scribe further explained that the processes followed in businesses in various transactions, especially the basis for computation of payments and remittances of all revenues payable to government, such as taxes, royalties and rents were equally of interest to the NEITI audit team.
Orji disclosed that a total of 66 companies in the oil and gas sectors were the covered entities, along with 14 government agencies currently working on the NEITI sector audits.
The level of cooperation by these companies and government agencies covered by the audit, the Executive Secretary noted, wre encouraging.
He said preliminary reports so far reviewed revealed that 62 companies have fully complied with the detailed information and data on their activities and transactions as contained in NEITI templates/checklist, while only four companies were being awaited to fully comply.
In the Solid Minerals Sector, he said 102 companies were undergoing the NEITI Audit process, which has also reached advanced stage, with 92 recording full compliance, while NEITI was following up closely on 10 companies to turn in their full details.
Orji said the NEITI audit in the solid minerals industry involved the review of information and data on revenue streams, distribution of revenues, licensing process, including registration and allocation of licenses to operators, information on beneficial ownership and the status of contribution of the solid minerals to the economy. He said other areas of interest include trend analysis of production volumes, data, royalty payments, export destinations of Nigeria’s solid minerals, the sector relevance shaping economic policy.
On the Fiscal Allocation and Statutory Disbursement audit, the NEITI boss said the agency examined revenues received from oil, gas and mining producing states and relevant statutory government agencies as well as the utilisation of such revenues for development projects that impact the quality of life of the people.
In this particular audit, Orji said nine states and 14 federal agencies were covered. The affected states were Gombe, Nasarawa, Rivers, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Imo, Kano and Ondo, out of which only two were yet to fully provide NEITI with relevant information and data.
NEITI did not disclose the names of the two states involved.
