NEITI Tasks Civil Society On Good Governance

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has said that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country hold the key to the fight against bad  governance.

Prof. Asisi Asobie, the Chairman, National Stakeholders Working Group of NEITI, made the disclosure on Monday in Umuahia at an empowerment workshop for CSOs in the South East.

Asobie said that the workshop was aimed at equipping CSOs in the zone with necessary tools to examine the stewardship of political office holders as well as hold them accountable.

He said there was need for the CSOs to monitor and determine how states and local governments put their respective allocations into use.

“We are talking about accountability in the oil and gas sector in the applications of the resources made by the extractive companies to the Federation Account and determine whether the funds have been properly used.

“The CSOs need to monitor whether government is performing. We need to train them for maximum output and also remove all obstacles for their participation in governance,” he said.

Asobie also said during a courtesy call by officials of NEITI on Gov. Theodore Orji, that “we appeal to you to ensure that revenue accruable to Abia State is properly used and accounted for”.

He expressed regrets that most state governors hid under the cloak of meagre allocation to exploit their people.

According to him, NEITI is instituted in line with the transformational agenda of the Federal Government, encapsulated in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS.

The chairman said that NEITI was at the verge of putting solid minerals in its audit reports having done 10 years audit of the oil and gas sector.

Orji said that the solid minerals sector would be much beneficial to the people of the South-east because the zone was endowed with such resources.

He said that revenue from the Federation Account should be shared equitably with particular emphasis on the states that produced the country’s wealth receiving higher earnings.

The governor said that those who were canvassing for the Sovereign Wealth Fund did not mean well for the poor masses.

“People are dying yet there is wealth in the country. We are dying and they are talking of Sovereign Wealth Fund. Give us the money today and tomorrow will take care of itself,” Orji said.

Chief Sam Ohuabunwa, the South-east representative in NEITI, said that the body would continue to empower CSOs to hold governors accountable in their duties.

“If we do this in the South-east, our conditions will improve. We have the worst infrastructure in the country.

“If the governors complain that they are not getting enough from the Federation Account, how do they utilise the little they receive,” he asked.