NEITI to audit accounts of 198 extractive companies, agencies

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says a total of 198 extractive companies and government agencies have submitted information and data for the ongoing nationwide reconciliation and validation of revenues in the oil, gas, and mining industry.

Ogbonnaya Orji, NEITI’s executive secretary, spoke in Abuja while addressing leaders from civil society organisations involved in the extractive sector, according to a statement on Monday.

Orji said out of the 198 companies, 63 are in the oil and gas industry, meeting the materiality threshold of a minimum royalty payment of $5 million; while 135 companies, which met the materiality threshold of N6 million, are from the solid minerals industry.

On the government agencies that either receive, take custody or manage oil, gas, and mining revenues, The NEITI boss said 14 of such agencies for the oil and gas and eight relevant agencies for the solid minerals sector are covered by the ongoing industry reports.

He said the agencies are expected to disclose all payments received and expenditures incurred during the period under review.

Ogbonnaya said the data reconciliation and validation meetings for the oil and gas extractive companies and relevant government agencies were held and concluded in Lagos last week.

“The level of participation of extractive companies in the ongoing industry audit is higher than in the last exercise conducted in 2021, where 190 oil, gas, and mining companies were covered,” he said.

“This included 121 solid mineral companies and 69 oil and gas companies that met the materiality threshold of $5 million and N3 million in royalty payments, respectively, for reconciliation in the oil, gas, and mining sectors.

“The ongoing 2022/2023 oil, gas, and solid minerals industry reports have reached an advanced stage, in fact, the final stage.”

He announced that a similar exercise on data reconciliation and validation for the solid minerals industry would begin in Lagos from August 26 to August 28.

The executive secretary said shortly after the Lagos exercise, Abuja’s event would follow, thereby setting the stage for wider stakeholder reviews and interface on the draft reports.

Orji also called for commitment, partnership, and cooperation of the oil, gas, and mining companies in the ongoing independent audit exercise, applauding the high quality of participation and voluntary disclosure of data.