The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has warned
that Nigeria could lose significant foreign investment in its oil, gas and mining
sectors if the country performs poorly in the forthcoming validation exercise of
the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Musa Sarkin-Adar, gave the warning on
Wednesday in Abuja during a stakeholder engagement session with civil society
organisations and the media ahead of Nigeria’s 2026 EITI Validation scheduled
to commence on July 1.
Sarkin-Adar said the validation exercise was critical to Nigeria’s reputation
among international investors, stressing that transparency and accountability
had become major considerations in global investment decisions.
According to him, although Nigeria possesses abundant natural resources and
remains one of Africa’s most attractive investment destinations, concerns over
governance standards and transparency continue to affect investor confidence.
He added that the briefing was key to the validation process, clarifying
stakeholder roles, and strengthening Nigeria’s readiness for what it considered a
critical assessment of the country’s transparency standards in the oil, gas and
mining sectors.
“Most Nigerians are not fully aware of the functions and importance of NEITI.
NEITI is an enabler for investment in the oil and gas and mining sectors
because our assessments and reports help guide foreign investors who want to
invest in Nigeria.
“Nigeria is an investment haven. Everybody wants to come and do business in
Nigeria, and I believe it is more rewarding than many other places. However,
scrutiny of investments all over the world matters, and that is what NEITI is
there to guarantee and ensure.
“If Nigeria loses this process, investors, particularly foreign investors in the oil
and gas and mining sectors, may decide not to come and invest in Nigeria.
Countries like Guyana, Tanzania and others are increasingly attracting
investments because of the standards they have established,” he said.
The NEITI boss lamented what he described as inadequate cooperation from
several government institutions whose support is required for the validation
process.
The NEITI chief did not mince words about the lack of cooperation from key
government agencies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company
Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal
Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the Budget Office, many of which,
he said, fail to respond to correspondence in a timely manner.
According to him, NEITI’s role is often misunderstood by stakeholders who
expect the agency to act as a regulator rather than an accountability and
transparency institution.
“The fact that we are not a regulatory institution but an enabler and
whistleblower is not well understood. If we choose to expose every issue
publicly, many organisations would be uncomfortable. But our objective is to
ensure that Nigeria remains respected globally and continues to attract
investments.
“We are working towards making Nigeria richer through transparent and
accountable governance of natural resources. That remains our mandate,”
Sarkin-Adar added.
The executive secretary also revealed that previous NEITI audit reports showed
Nigeria came close to losing approximately $`7 billion due to companies failing
to meet their financial obligations and warned that a forthcoming 2024-2025
audit report would contain further significant revelations.
According to him, he would advise the government to impose heavy penalties
and potentially blacklist defaulting companies.
“In previous audit reports, Nigeria almost lost about `$7bn because some
companies failed to pay what they were supposed to pay. The upcoming audit
report, which will be released soon, has already shown from preliminary
findings that there are many issues that will require action.
“When the report is released, I will advise the government to take the necessary
actions against all defaulting companies. Where necessary, penalties should be
imposed in accordance with the law, and persistent offenders may even be
prevented from doing business in this country,” he stated.
Sarkin-Adar further urged civil society organisations to intensify advocacy for
greater transparency in the recovery and utilisation of revenues identified
through NEITI audits.
He noted that although NEITI regularly identifies outstanding payments and
financial infractions, the agency is often not informed about recoveries made by
relevant authorities.