OAGF To Work With NEITI In Tracking Oil And Gas Revenues
BY GLORIA USMAN, ABUJA – The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris, has assured the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) of the needed support of his office in tracking oil and gas revenue that accrue to the Federal Government towards ensuring appropriate remittances.
Idris gave the assurance on Monday when he received in audience, the management of the NEITI), led by the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji in his office.
A statement by the Director of Information, Press and Public Relations, Henshaw Ogubike, said that Idris while reacting to the NEITI’s request for support to effect requisite reforms in the management of the country’s oil and gas revenues, further assured that the Federal Treasury will partner and give the necessary support to the agency 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.
Idris also made a case for integration of NEITI as an institutional partner in the Federal Government’s strategic revenue growth initiative just as 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, mobilisation and identifying additional sources of revenue.
The AGF 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, the Chief Executive Officer of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji , said the agency was established to track revenues accruing to the government from oil and gas transactions, especially remittances of such revenues to ensure accountability.
Orji commended the Accountant General of the Federation for the successes so far recorded in the government financial management reforms initiatives and solicited support for the NEITI’s activities and challenges.
