NEITI WOOS LAWMAKERS ON TRANSPARENCY

By NBF News

EXECUTIVE Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has called for closer working ties with legislators to ensure accountability in the extractive sector.

Speaking during an induction workshop for members of the House of Representatives on NEITI in Calabar yesterday, Ahmed said since Nigeria signed up to the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2003 and began implementation in 2004, supporting the policy with the NEITI Act 2007, the role of the legislature in the process has remained one of the missing links.

Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, represented by his deputy, Efiok Cobham, charged NEITI to extend its campaign on transparency to all states of the federation and other tiers of government.

He said the state is very ready to work with NEITI and the law should be domesticated.

Presenting a paper on EITI Implementation in Nigeria: Roles of the legislators, the former NEITI Chairman, Professor Assisi Asobie told the legislatures that if activities are brought to the open, corruption will be reduced as there is too much of secrecy in the country.

He said in this country, Nigerians and the law makers do not know how much the oil companies pay to the national treasury.