The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI has said it is time to commence talks on transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy. This was made known by the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, at a media engagement in Lagos this week saying that NEITI is ready to lead discussions on transitioning to meet international standard of its parent body, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI.
Initiative (NEITI), Waziri Adio, with the NNPC GMD, Mele
Kyari, in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, Nigeria must begin to shift focus from just fossil fuel to cleaner energy to save the environment. He added that NEITI is also gradually adding the extractive industry to its purview as against focusing on just the oil and gas sector.
“NEITI will now pay special attention to mining because statistics say the sector contributes less than one percent to the national GDP,” he said.
Paying more attention to the mining sector, according to him, will enable Nigeria to rake in additional revenue from its natural resources.
Orji said NEITI has now gone beyond who pays what in the oil and gas sector, and as expanded scope to include capital flights, terrorism financing, beneficial ownership of oil assets, illicit financial flows, and other issues.
He promised release of the 2019 NEIT report in June, and 2020 report latest by November.
Meanwhile, the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR says it is expecting the first production of crude from some of the recently awarded 57 marginal oilfields in January 2022.
Director, DPR, Sarki Auwalu, said this during a strategic engagement session with the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI on Wednesday in Lagos.
According to him, the 2020 marginal oilfield bid round was almost at completion stage with successful companies now paying their signature bonuses.