Nigerian President Urged to Implement EITI Recommendations

Numerous civic organizations in Nigeria, including The Publish What You Pay (PWYP), Nigeria, and the Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA), have united to petition the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, to execute the key recommendations for the nation’s extractive industries as delineated in the 2023 EITI Validation Report on Nigeria.

In a collective statement released on Monday, the groups conveyed the urgency of taking action, underscoring the adverse effects of Nigeria’s current EITI ranking on the economy and the potential repercussions on foreign investments in the country’s oil, gas, and mining sectors.

The validation exercise, carried out by EITI, functions as a quality assessment mechanism to measure advancement in implementing EITI standards and ensuring adherence to its requirements by member countries. The report proposed numerous recommendations, including greater government oversight of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Secretariat and active participation and effective engagement of extractive companies in the EITI process in Nigeria.

Additionally, the report emphasized the significance of guaranteeing that civil society is fully, actively, and effectively involved in all aspects of the EITI process, highlighting the critical role of civil society in guaranteeing unobstructed and independent participation.

While the report acknowledged Nigeria’s moderate score in implementing the global EITI standard, it also delineated areas for improvement, particularly in stakeholders’ engagement, transparency, and accountability processes. The report underscored the necessity for Nigeria to implement all recommendations and corrective actions identified before the next validation exercise in January 2026, or face suspension.

The groups emphasized the importance of the EITI validation report in influencing investment decisions by foreign investors, multilateral institutions, and development agencies. It underscored the potential adverse impact of Nigeria’s low score in stakeholders’ engagement on investment decisions and called for prompt action by the Presidency and other oversight agencies to implement the key recommendations and reforms for effective EITI implementation in Nigeria.

The joint statement concludes by urging the Nigerian government to address the identified shortcomings and work towards building stronger institutions, fostering better stakeholders’ engagement, and promoting transparency and accountability in the country’s extractive industry. It is clear that the implementation of the EITI recommendations is imperative for Nigeria’s economic growth and the attraction of foreign investments into its extractive sectors.