Economic Confidential, May 2008

COMMUNIQUÉ

COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF A NATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS’ FORUM ON NEITI IMPLEMENTATION HELD AT THE TRANSCORP-HILTON HOTEL, ABUJA ON APRIL 15, 2008

Introduction:

A one-day National Stakeholders’ Forum on NEITI Implementation organized by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with NEITI Secretariat and support from Oxfam GB Nigeria, held at Transcorp-Hotel, Abuja on April 15, 2008. More than 80 participants, including resource persons, public officers, Civil Society actors, representatives of the media and other stakeholders were in attendance. Goodwill messages were given by NEITI Secretariat, Oxfam GB Nigeria, Norwegian Embassy, American Embassy, PACT Nigeria and Publish What You Pay.

The Session was chaired by the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright E. Okogu

After the opening ceremony, Prof Asissi Asobie, Chairman NEITI presented the lead paper titled THE MULTI-STAKEHOLDER APPROACH AND THE EITI MOVEMENT. Other perspectives were provided by Dr. Peter Ozo Eson, Director of Research Nigeria Labour Congress; Gen. Ishola Williams (rtd), president, Transparency in Nigeria; and Mr. Basil Omiyi, Chairman SHELL Companies in Nigeria.

OBSERVATIONS:

After exhaustive discussions on the presentations, participants observed the following:

1.     There is a need for a broader definition of the concept of community in order to key in important factors such as resource utilization, national development and economic growth.

2.     Many communities, apart from those in the Niger Delta region, are victims of extractive industries activities as in Plateau State, for example.

3.     Some groups dominate the interests of the entire community and thus stand in the way of the true representation of the people of the community.

4.     While the Act establishing NEITI is commendable, there is a need for Government and NEITI to address problems through political solutions.

5.     Civil Society groups must begin to explore innovative opportunities for funding to be able to remain objective and independent in performing their monitoring and evaluation responsibilities.

6.     Though multinational extractive companies are signatories to corporate practices however NEITI implementation has increased the consciousness of these companies towards their responsibilities to both government and communities

7.     Efforts must be put in place to utilize revenue from oil in a transparent manner for the welfare of citizens, sustainable development and national prosperity.

8.     The current composition of the NEITI Board does not mainstream gender as only one out of the fifteen members is a woman.

9.     Revenue disclosure while going a long way in establishing transparency and accountability may in itself be a dead end when the chain of values expected to bring about genuine national development is circumscribed by structural deficiencies.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

 Participants made the following recommendations on how best to engage the extractive industry process in Nigeria:

1.     NEITI should deepen its interaction with the stakeholders especially at the community level to maximize impact.

2.     Communities should not only be protected but guaranteed profitability from the ventures of extractive industries operating in their environment.

3.     Certain percentage of government revenue from the extractive sector should be set aside for civil society in order for it to effectively carry out monitoring and evaluation activities.

4.     Efforts must be made to work closely with the legislature in actualizing the objectives of NEITI.

5.     An understanding of the amount of oil produced and exported from Nigeria will assist the Publish–What-You-Pay campaign.

6.     The quality of regulation in the extractive industries is very important and therefore regulatory agencies must learn from global standards, and best practices.

7.     Civil Society should work closely with the NEITI Secretariat in extending transparency into the mining sector in Nigeria

8.     There is a great need to scale up capacity of the law enforcement agencies and encourage collaboration with communities in securing extractive industry installations.

9.     Appropriate forums in form of capacity building should be initiated for security agencies to educate them on their responsibility in communities of extractive industries

10. The Department for Petroleum Resources should be better quipped and funded is to carry out its statutory functions in the oil and gas industry.

 CONCLUSION:

 Participants commended CISLAC, NEITI Secretariat and Oxfam GB Nigeria for organizing the session.

Signed by:

Auwal I.Musa (Rafsanjani )                                       Waziri Adio

Executive Director                                                      Director of Communication

CISLAC                                                                          NEITI  Secretariat