Business
NEITI, NSIA, NOA Partner On Oil Revenue Management
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and National Orientation Agency (NOA), have agreed to partner in oil revenue savings and promotion of better attitude to public office.
A statement by Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, NEITI’s Director of Communications, said last Wednesday in Abuja, that the agencies reached the agreement at separate meetings with NEITI Executive Secretary, Waziri Adio.
According to Adio, the meetings are focused on exploring areas of inter-agency mutual cooperation.
He explained that, while NSIA managed the Sovereign Wealth Fund derived from extractive revenues, NOA led the national campaign for attitudinal change and ethical values in the country.
At the meeting with the management of NSIA, the NEITI executive secretary expressed regrets that, “the nation’s paltry oil savings defeated the rationale for having such savings in the first place.
“Nigeria does not have enough oil savings to finance even the fifth of a year’s budget at the federal level, not to talk of having enough for investments or for the future generation.”
Adio said that the Occasional Paper recently released by NEITI, largely focused on the “Case for a Robust Oil Saving Fund for Nigeria”.
He added that in the publication, NEITI drew public attention that Nigeria failed to save enough oil revenues to sustain economic activities when oil prices were quite high.
“From the paper also problematic is the level of consumption relative to non-oil exports. Nigeria typically responds to high oil prices with equally high but manifestly unsustainable level of consumption.
“The absence of sufficient savings left Nigeria severely exposed when the price of oil, Nigeria’s main source of government revenues and foreign exchange, started to plunge in 2014,” Adio said.
He said that the researched publication largely touched on the work of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and the managers of Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund.
He explained that NEITI’s decision to alert the nation on the need to save for the rainy day was informed by the need for the country to prepare adequately for frequent price volatility, “depletion of non-renewable resources and for future generation”.
Earlier, the Managing Director of NSIA, Dr Uche Orji, commended NEITI for taking the initiative to produce the paper, adding that, it helped NSIA to tell its own story in an independent manner.
According to him, “NEITI has a voice that resonates with policy makers and its other stakeholders. We found the publication exceptional and commendable”.
The NSIA boss said the report was produced without the inputs of his agency.
He described the recommendations in the publication as very succinct and apt.
“We are here to ask for closer collaboration between the NSIA and NEITI in the discharge of our individual mandates while working together for the common good of our country,” he added.
The NSIA managing director briefed the NEITI management on what his agency had achieved so far, the prospects of on-going projects and unfolding challenges.
He further explained that the NSIA established frameworks for good corporate governance, risk management, transparency and accountability, adding that the solid governance structure had attracted credible partners, notable investors and private equity funds.
He disclosed that Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum that initially opposed its mandate, was one of its greatest supporters at the moment.
“The 250 million dollars we invested in 2016 came from the state governments’ share of the NLNG dividend.”
Meanwhile, NEITI and NOA are to establish effective platform for collaboration, especially in information sharing, public education and enlightenment.
The Director-General, Dr Garba Abari, announced this when NEITI’s executive secretary visited his office.
Abari announced that 813 offices of NOA would be made available to NEITI as a platform for dissemination of the organisation’s reports to all nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh said this at the 8th annual induction and conference of the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN).
He explained that abandoned projects continue to lock up public funds that could have been used for infrastructure development, industrial growth, job creation and essential social services.
Represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Chris Osa Isokpunwu, he said the impact goes beyond financial losses, as incomplete projects affect communities and limit access to important public services
He cited examples of that remain unopened, schools that cannot accommodate students, roads that fail to connect communities and electricity projects that have not delivered their intended benefits.
The Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer of CIPMN, Henry Ifeanyi Mbadiwe, also identified poor project management as a major challenge affecting development in Nigeria.
He revealed that the institute had developed a project management curriculum for Nigerian universities, which has received approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC). The programme is expected to enable universities to offer project management as a bachelor’s degree.
Mbadiwe further referenced findings by the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee, which identified 11,886 ongoing federal capital projects in 2011, with an estimated financial commitment of ?7.78 trillion.
He noted that inadequate planning, supervision, accountability and implementation were among the factors contributing to the abandonment of projects across the country.
The minister called for stronger project management structures across ministries, departments and agencies to improve planning, monitoring and evaluation.
He added that the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had introduced a 90-day implementation reporting cycle to strengthen transparency and monitor the progress of government programmes.
Ikenga said the company remained committed to Nigeria’s power sector and would continue investing in its operations despite the challenging business environment.
He spoke in Lagos at the third edition of the Shell Power Conference, themed “Powering Nigeria’s Progress: Turning Ambition and Action into Sustainable Impact”.
The Transcorp Power chief said the company would sustain electricity generation, invest in its facilities and deliver value to shareholders.
“Transcorp Power is a long-term player, not a short-term player. This year has been challenging, but what is important is getting power to schools, hospitals and businesses to power progress,” he said.
Ikenga said the company’s focus on operational efficiency and investment had strengthened its contribution to Nigeria’s electricity supply.
He disclosed that since acquiring the Ughelli Power Plant in Delta State in 2013, Transcorp Power had quadrupled its available generation capacity.
He also said the company became the first privatised power generation firm to receive a post-privatisation discharge certificate after fulfilling all its privatisation obligations.
The company’s unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, showed a profit before tax of N83.1 billion, while its profit-before-tax margin rose to 31.2 per cent from 29.6 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Its total assets rose to 11.7 per cent amounting to N629.5 billion, while shareholders’ funds grew 8.9 per cent to N199.8 billion. Cash and cash equivalents also rose to N10.3 billion, supported by improved collections.
On the company’s contribution to grid stability, Ikenga said Transcorp Power’s black-start capability enabled it to restart operations without relying on electricity from the national grid.
He explained that the capability allowed the company to support power restoration following grid disturbances, helping to restore electricity supply to homes, businesses and industries.
Ikenga noted that Nigeria had an installed electricity generation capacity of about 13,000 megawatts, with an estimated potential of 50 gigawatts, adding that realising the potential would require effective coordination across the entire value chain.
“Everything in the value chain has to work,” he said.
He called for stronger collaboration among federal and state governments, regulators and private-sector operators, alongside increased private investment, to build a sustainable electricity market.
This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Communications and Press Secretary, Maryann Duke.
The statement said Oyedele pointed to “improved digital systems, including electronic invoicing, as a key driver behind a record of N33tn in government revenue collected between January and October 2026.”
The minister said the performance demonstrated the potential of technology to improve revenue administration, strengthen compliance and increase efficiency across government institutions.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Digital Sovereignty and Ethics: Guarding the Economy for the Next Generation,’ Oyedele warned that Nigeria risked losing substantial economic opportunities if it continued to depend heavily on foreign digital infrastructure.
Citing Nigerian Communications Commission figures, he disclosed that the country recorded more than 157 million active internet subscriptions as of May 2026.
He explained that these connections generated significant volumes of information through financial transactions, healthcare, education and taxation.
However, citing estimates from the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Oyedele said as much as 90 per cent of the country’s data was hosted abroad.
According to him, the situation has implications for foreign exchange expenditure, employment opportunities, technological skills and Nigeria’s control over information generated by its citizens.
He compared the country’s reliance on foreign digital infrastructure with its historical dependence on imported refined petroleum products, warning against a situation where Nigerian data would be processed abroad and the resulting services sold back to domestic users.
The minister consequently advocated greater investment in local data infrastructure, technical expertise, cybersecurity and predictable regulations to enable Nigerian businesses to capture more value from the digital economy.
He clarified that digital sovereignty should not translate into technological isolation but should strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to participate competitively in international markets.
Addressing graduating students, Oyedele urged young Nigerians to become developers of technological solutions rather than remain primarily consumers of products created elsewhere.
He identified artificial intelligence as both a disruptive force and an opportunity for innovation, advising graduates to acquire relevant digital skills alongside critical thinking, creativity, sound judgement and integrity.
The minister also cautioned against irresponsible online behaviour, explaining that digital footprints increasingly influence employment prospects, commercial relationships and professional credibility.
Oyedele outlined five priorities for graduates, including continuous learning, value creation, integrity, responsible digital citizenship and active participation in national development.
“Your degree is evidence of what you have learned. Your competence will demonstrate what you can do. Your character will reveal who you truly are,” he told the graduating students.
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