Civil Society groups engaged in the country’s extractive industry have finally elected their representative to the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), otherwise called the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Board.
In the early hours of Friday, May 3, 2024, the three-member NEITI Selection Committee charged with the responsibility of organising the election of a credible representative to the Board announced Dr Erisa Sarki Danladi as the newly elected CSO representative to the NEITI Board.
The returning officer in the election, Ezenwa Nwagwu, who announced Danladi’s election said she received 78 votes out of the total 108 votes cast by representatives of 127 civil society organisations (CSOs) that participated in the poll.
Danladi, who is the current Deputy National Coordinator Publish-What-You-Pay (PWYP) transparency and accountability coalition Nigeria, defeated Mina Margaret Ogbanga, the immediate past CSO representative on the defunct Board, who made an unsuccessful attempt to regain her seat after garnering just 30 votes.
Announcing the outcome of the elections, the Chairperson of the NEITI Selection Committee, Mmanti Umoh, who later confirmed the result, said: “We are pleased to announce the results of the NEITI NSWG Civil Society Representative election.
“After a rigorous and transparent voting process, the results are as follows: Mina Ogbanga: 30 votes; Erisa Sarki Danladi: 78 votes.
“These results reflect the active participation and engagement of our Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and demonstrate the integrity of our electoral procedures.
“We extend our congratulations to Erisa Sarki Danladi, who has been elected as the Civil Society Representative on the NEITI NSWG.”
It was a keen contest in an electoral process that was characterised by robust electioneering campaigns usually associated with the electoral process by civil society groups.
The process to select a credible civil society representative for the NEITI Board began August last year with the constitution of a seven-member Guidelines Committee headed by the Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton-Akpan.
The Committee, which had the Executive Director, Extractive 360, Juliet Alohan-Ukanwosu, also had other members as the Executive Director of the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), Faith Nwadishi, and the National Coordinator, Media Initiative on Transparency in Extractive Industries (MITEI).
Other members of the Committee, who at various times resigned in the course of the assignment for various reasons, include the Executive Director of the Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), Frank Tietie; the National Coordinator of PWYP Nigeria, Taiwo Otitolaye and Mina Ogbanga.
After successfully midewifing the process for the elections, the Tijah Bolton-Akpan-led Committee handed over to a three-member Selection Committee which had Mmanti Umoh of Community Stakeholders for Social Good (CSSG) as the Chairman charged with the responsibility of conducting the elections to select the CSO representative.
The Secretary of the Committee was Engr. Janet Adeyemi, with the Executive Director of Centre and for Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Rafsanjani as member, and the Executive Director of Partners for Electoral Reform, Ezenwa Nwagwu, as the Returning Officer.
On Monday, April 22 ,2024, the Presidency announced the reconstitution of the new Board without a representative of the civil society.
The announcement followed the rejection of Taiwo Otitolaye, the National Coordinator, PWYP Nigeria, who sought to smuggle himself illegally into the Board by self-appointing himself against known established precedence.
With the rejection of Mr Otitolaye’s self-appointment, the civil society groups engaged in the Nigerian extractive sector were given the opportunity to elect their representative through an unfettered electoral process.
With the emergence of Dr Danladi, the Selection Committee is expected to formally inform the Federal Government through the NEITI Secretariat of the successful conclusion of the electoral process and the emergence of the new CSO representative.
Danladi: A Profile
The newly elected CSO representative on the NEITI Board is a research-oriented consultant and strategist with 20 years of experience working with people of diverse backgrounds, while occupying leadership roles in social development, education and administrative settings.
She has worked in the area of data collection for surveys in Nigeria such as 2012 Assessment of Primary Health Care Facilities funded by USAID through MEASURE Evaluation, USAID Gender Action plan, 2012 National HIV/AIDS Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS).
She is the National Social Secretary of NASSI; a founding member of Nigerian Cambers of Youth; the coordinator Northeast Women Political Empowerment project; Northeast Coordinator, Country Women Association of Nigeria; Northeast Coordinator, Coalition of Society for the Rights of Older Persons in Nigeria.
Also, she seats as a member of the African Steering committee of PWYP and also The Voluntary Principles, a successful Community Development Expert, facilitator, researcher, and motivational speaker who is passionate about helping women, youth and vulnerable households.
A farmer by vocation, she possesses expertise in diverse subject areas, including leadership, multicultural education, counseling, community development, ethics, and sociology.
