The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has stepped up efforts to enhance accountability within the nation’s oil, fuel and mining industries by strengthening its collaboration with the {Economic} and {Financial} Crimes Fee and the Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee.
The renewed partnership was introduced on Friday in a press release issued by NEITI’s Director of Communications and Stakeholder Administration, Obiageli Onuorah, after separate courtesy visits to the headquarters of the 2 anti-graft companies.
In keeping with the assertion, “The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has reaffirmed its unwavering dedication to accountability in Nigeria’s oil, fuel, and mining sectors by strengthening its partnership with the {Economic} and {Financial} Crimes Fee and the Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee.”
Through the engagements, NEITI’s Govt Secretary, Musa Sarkin Adar, emphasised the necessity for nearer cooperation amongst companies in order that transparency disclosures result in enforcement actions, remediation of audit findings and the sealing of income leakages within the extractive industries.
Adar mentioned that since taking workplace, his administration has centered on constructing strategic ties with establishments whose mandates align with NEITI’s goals of openness and accountability. He described each the EFCC and ICPC as crucial companions in turning audit reviews into concrete outcomes.
“This partnership is not only about disclosure. It’s about accountability, corrective actions, and measurable influence. As Nigeria prepares for the 2026 EITI Validation, our collective accountability is to reveal that transparency results in actual change,” Adar acknowledged.
He defined that Nigeria’s upcoming validation below the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative would look at compliance with the 2023 EITI Normal throughout three areas — Transparency, Stakeholder Engagement, and Outcomes and Affect.
In keeping with him, the method would measure not solely NEITI’s efficiency but in addition Nigeria’s broader dedication to transparency within the administration of pure assets.
Adar formally sought sustained cooperation from each anti-graft companies below present Memoranda of Understanding, urging stronger collaboration by intelligence sharing, technical help and coordinated follow-up on instances arising from NEITI audit reviews.
In response, EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, described NEITI’s audit reviews as “indispensable uncooked supplies” for investigations into {financial} crimes throughout the extractive sector.
He revealed that the Fee had already created a specialised Extractive Trade and Fraud Part to deal with sector-specific corruption and pledged to strengthen the MoU with NEITI to enhance coordination and effectiveness.
Equally, ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu (SAN), praised NEITI as a “crucial vanguard” within the battle towards entrenched corruption, notably within the administration of pure assets.
Aliyu disclosed that the Fee had arrange a Particular Extractive Trade Desk to behave instantly on findings from NEITI audits.
“By combining NEITI’s forensic knowledge with ICPC’s investigative and prosecutorial powers, we’ve moved past reporting infractions to rectifying them,” he mentioned.
He assured NEITI of ICPC’s continued partnership, stressing that Nigeria’s pure wealth should translate into actual improvement and that residents’ expectations for accountability stay excessive.
Nigeria’s extractive sector, led largely by oil and fuel, stays a serious supply of presidency income and overseas change however has lengthy been affected by opacity, income losses and weak enforcement of audit outcomes.
NEITI, Nigeria’s implementing company of the worldwide EITI framework, frequently releases audit reviews highlighting unremitted revenues, inefficiencies and governance failures. Nonetheless, turning these findings into recoveries, sanctions and reforms has typically confirmed troublesome.
The renewed collaboration between NEITI, EFCC and ICPC represents a coordinated effort to shut that enforcement hole, notably as Nigeria prepares to reveal compliance with world transparency requirements forward of the 2026 EITI Validation.
The conferences, which concerned senior officers from the three companies, kind a part of NEITI’s ongoing sensitisation visits aimed toward strengthening governance and accountability in Nigeria’s extractive industries.