By EMMANUELLA ANOKAM

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says the Federal government revenue generating agencies remitted ₦14.38 trillion as revenue from the extractive sector to the Federation Account between January 2020 and December 2021.

Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of NEITI, made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the unveiling of the latest Fiscal Allocation and Statutory Disbursement (FASD) report which covered the period 2020-2021.

The report was unveiled by the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Shaakaa Chira, who was represented by the Director of Audits, Mr Sundung James.

The revenue generating agencies include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD), and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Orji said the breakdown showed that mineral revenue accounted for N6.40 trillion about 44.5 per cent of total remittances for the period, while other non-mineral revenue (excluding VAT) contributed N4.80 trillion about 33.37 per cent of total remittances.

Orji while presenting the highlights of the report stated that the information and data contained in the NEITI latest FASD reports reviewed processes that characterised all transactions within the sector.

“It looked at independent assessment of financial transactions in the areas of revenue receipts, payments, how the processes weighed on the scale of transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector during the period under review.

“Other areas that NEITI focused on, in this report, were projects executed deployment to capital projects and recurrent expenditure and how these aligned with the core responsibilities of the agencies, the government and citizens’ expectations.

“NEITI’s FASD Report examined total extractive industries revenue remitted to the federation account, tracked allocation and disbursement from the account to statutory recipients, utilisation and application of the funds by beneficiaries between 2020 and 2021,” he said.

He said the audit covered four federal revenue generating and 11 beneficiary agencies that were involved in the management of extractive industries funds.

The report, he said, also covered nine selected states Akwa Ibom; Bayelsa, Delta, Gombe, Imo, Kano, Nasarawa, Ondo and Rivers.

“The beneficiary agencies include: Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF); Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Resources Agency (NMDPRA) – PEF– PPPRA.

“Others are: Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund); Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Development of Natural Resources Fund (DNRF), Stabilisation Fund, Ecological Fund, Excess Crude Account (ECA)”.

The executive secretary said the report, which was the fourth in the audit cycle, revealed that overall remittances to the federation account for the period increased by about 14 per cent.

Speaking, the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Shaakaa Chira, said the FASD report which would be useful to his office fulfilled the agency’s mandate as enshrined in the Nigeria’s constitution.

According to Shira, the report will assist his office when performing the audit of the federation revenue, its collection, remittance, and disbursement, aid periodic checks of deductions and transfers made before remittances and the FAAC Allocations.

In a remark, Mr Faruk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulations Authority (NMDPRA) lauded NEITI’s role over the years including transparency in public and private sector businesses and beyond the extractive industries.

Represented by Mr Oseni Adewale, Director Operations, NMDPRA, Ahmed said NEITI’s demand for accountability from stakeholders had increased sense of responsibility among agencies and government institutions towards enhancing revenue and maximum value for Nigerian people.

Speaking on behalf of the Civil Society Organisation (CSOs), Mr Monday Osasah, Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development and the global representative of the Publish What You Pay urged the organisations to use the report as a tool for advocacy. (NAN)

•PHOTO: NEITI Executive Secretary, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Mr Sundung James, Director of Audit, Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (middle) with other officials at the unveiling of the NEITI 2020-2021 Fiscal Allocation and Statutory Disbursement (FASD) Report on Thursday in Abuja.

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