By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation is to support the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in tracking oil and gas revenue that accrue to the Federal Government to ensure appropriate remittances.
The Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris stated this when he received the leadership of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), led by the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji on a visit to Treasury House.
Idris, while reacting to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)’s request for support to effect requisite reforms in the management of the country’s oil and gas revenues, assured that the Federal Treasury, “will partner and give the necessary support to NEITI to achieve efficient monitoring of oil and gas revenue accruals to the government”.
He commended NEITI for the successes it has recorded so far, adding that the effort of the Agency to entrench probity, transparency and accountability in the management of the country’s oil and gas revenues is in line with the government’s financial management reforms initiatives.
The Accountant General also made a case for integration of NEITI as an institutional partner in the Federal Government’s strategic revenue growth initiative. He reasoned that integrating the Agency into the Federal Government’s strategic revenue growth initiative will be a big leap forward in government’s vision of improving revenue collection, mobilization and identifying additional sources of revenue.
He noted that operating under obsolete laws has greatly hampered the activities of the Agency and called for periodic review of NEITI Act and other laws that regulate the operations of the oil and gas sector to reflect current realities.
In his remarks, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, said NEITI was established to track revenues accruing to the government from oil and gas transactions, especially remittances of such revenues to ensure accountability.
He commended the Accountant General for the successes so far recorded in the government financial management reforms initiatives and solicited support for the Agency’s activities and challenges.
