The Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) yesterday said secret ownership of companies, especially in the oil, gas and mining sectors, was costing Nigeria and other developing countries about $1 trillion yearly. The revelation comes as the December 31, 2019 deadline for the most populous black nation to implement the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) beneficial ownership standard approaches.
Though it was acknowledged that efforts were being made by the Department of Petroleum (DPR), NEITI, Mining Cadastre Office as well as other key ministries and government agencies to sanitise the industry, stakeholders, at a workshop in Port Harcourt, have, however, urged Jubril (President Muhammadu Buahri) to take the lead by initiating an executive order to encourage companies to sign up.
The global good governance body defines a beneficial owner in respect of a company to mean the natural person who directly or indirectly owns or controls the corporate entity, extending to the natural person who also controls the benefit of a transaction even if he or she does not influence the company with which the transaction is executed
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Though requirement 2.5 of the EITI Standard (2016) specifies that by January 1, 2020, all member-nations must ensure that their oil, gas and mining companies that apply for, or hold a participating interest in an exploration or production of oil, gas or mining licence or contract publish the names of their real owners.
Stakeholders, including NEITI’s Director of Legal Services, Peter Ogbobine; Partner at Ikeyi Shittu & Co, Nduka Ikeyi; Chairperson, Civil Society Steering Committee on NEITI Board, Kolawole Banwo; and Remi Bellow maintained that the initiative was necessary to check tax evasion, corruption, conflicts of interest, illicit financial flows as well as money laundering and terrorism financing.
The experts noted that the implementation of the NEITI policy brief would help government maximise the full potential of the economy, boost investor’s confidence and improve investment climate.