Lawmakers to begin probe of 77 firms owing gov’t N2.6tr – NEITI

The Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has said the House of Representatives would begin a probe of 77 companies that failed to remit N2.6 trillion to the federal government.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this on Monday while fielding questions from newsmen during a briefing in Abuja.

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He said, “Our fundamental responsibility as NEITI under the EITI principles is public disclosure. From our reports we provided information and data that 77 companies were indebted to the government to the tune of N2.6 trillion.

“However, we are highly encouraged that the House of Representatives rose to the occasion; tabled the issue as a motion, passed it and set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the issue. A public hearing on that disclosure from NEITI begins in March. NEITI will be there to help the committee in this investigation,” Orji noted.

He also stated that NEITI will be launching three reports for the year 2020 on 7th of March. The first report is on the oil and gas industry in 2020. The second is the solid mineral report which he said will signify the agency’s move fully into the solid mineral.

The NEITI board has also developed a five-year strategic plan which will also be launched in March just as Orji lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for approving a permanent building for the agency after it suffered accommodation issues for 17 years. “So, it’s one of the things we have done in the last one year,” he said.