UN body wants Nigeria to implement rules against graft

[TGD]

 NIGERIA has been advised to implement and enforce the tenets of the UN Convention against corruption by strengthening anti- graft policies, laws and enforcement mechanisms.

The Head, Transparency and Anti-Corruption, United Nations (UN) Global Compact, Olajobi Makinwa, said many resource-rich countries like Nigeria were not receiving benefits from extraction of their natural resources because of graft.

Makinwa stated this at an extractive business dialogue on corruption with the theme:  Corporate action for transparency in the hydrocarbon industry in Nigeria organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group in Port Harcourt yesterday.

She noted that previously, there was an absence of robust global standards and institutional mechanisms that promoted revenue transparency and accountability in the hydrocarbon/extractive industry.

According to her, in 2002 the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) was formed as a global transparency standard to ensure transparency and accountability in the extractive industry by requiring extractive companies operating within EITI signatory nations, to disclose their payments to the government, and the signatory to disclose such receipts.

She noted that because of corruption and lack of transparency, local citizens of many resource-rich countries like Nigeria were not feeling the positive and developmental impact from foreign investments in the extractive industry.

She further suggested that government needed to make a commitment to reduce corruption risks from procurement and contract processes of large-scale projects that are designed to support sustainable development.

On his part, the chairman of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Ledum Mitee, said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the National Assembly for passage into law provides the excellent opportunity for Nigeria to align its extractive industry governance to international best practices and ensure that revenues from its oil, gas and mining sector support national development.

Mitee said this could only be possible if the government can muster the political will to ensure the early passage of a PIB that weighs heavily on the scale of transparency, accountability, competition and corporate governance.



The Guardian