The federal government has said it is tackling the flow of illicit funds and corruption in the country through Open Government Partnership (OPG).
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, who made the remark on Wednesday in Abuja said the federal government is ensuring transparency in awarding contracts with the Beneficial Ownership Disclosure in the extractive sector to disclose the real beneficiaries of registered companies.
The minister who was speaking at the general meeting of OPG said Nigeria was able to win a seat to serve a second tenure in the OGP global steering committee which would commence on the 1st of October, 2021 and run for three years with reforms undertaken by the government.
“There are a lot of illicit funds moving around and there are issues around contracting which are not very clear. When you don’t know who is behind this, chances are there are lots of conflicts of interest taking place. It is one area that we have been pushing to stop and we started with the extractive industries.”
Agba added that with the revised Company and Allied Matter Act (CAMA), real owners of companies will be known and they must be disclosed in the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
He also said the ministry is working with Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in the extractive sector and would soon expand to other sectors.
