Oil industry advised to embrace openness.
Paul Oke, Abuja

Operators in the Nigerian extractive sector have been told to understand and accept that the era of secrecy is over.

The players in the sector were advised to respond by embracing openness, corporate governance and good business ethics built on transparency.

The Executive secretary of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed gave the advice at the NEITI national conference held in Abuja.

Mrs Ahmed said NEITI believed that through the on-going national discourse, institutional processes lapses identified would be corrected, improved and streamlined to reduce waste.

She said, “NEITI is certain that through the on-going national discourse, legal, governance and institutional processes lapses having been identified by the auditor would be corrected, improved and streamlined to limit waste and all forms of unwholesome practices in the industry”.

She said the conference was a deliberate effort by NEITI to expand the scope of dialogue in the extractive sector.
The Executive Secretary said in the last ten years, NEITI had carried out audits in the oil and gas sector, but not many people understand the relevance of the exercise to national development.

“NEITI has conducted industry audits in the oil and gas sector but not many understand the relevance of the exercise to national development”, she added.

Ugo