- Safiu Kehinde
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has expressed confidence in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd., led by Bayo Ojulari, to deliver on ongoing reforms in the company as well as in the industry.
NEITI’s Executive Secretary and CEO, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the NNPC Management at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Thursday.
As contained in a statement issued on the NNPC’s official X handle on Friday, Orji, in his address, maintained that the Ojulari-led administration will set new benchmarks for corporate governance in Africa’s extractive industry.
He commended the vision of the new NNPC Ltd. leadership, noting that its assumption into office comes at a defining moment for Nigeria’s extractive sector, whereby reforms, renewed investor confidence, and expanded indigenous participation are reshaping the nation’s oil and gas landscape.
While urging the NNPC to stand as a model of transparency, accountability, efficiency, and civic engagement, the NEITI boss said those values remain essential elements in restoring public trust and safeguarding the company as Nigeria’s greatest national asset.
In his remark, Ojulari assured that the NNPC Ltd. will sustain its collaboration with NEITI towards enhancing openness and strengthening corporate governance in line with global transparency and accountability standards.
The NNPC boss reiterated the company’s commitment to deeper disclosures and transparent reporting.
He noted that the company has since reinstated the publication of monthly financial and operational reports and strengthened its internal reporting structures to ensure greater accountability.
“In terms of full compliance to NEITI principles and global EITI standards, you have my full commitment. We will look to your guidance as we deepen this.
“We are already doing a lot of internal transformation to deepen transparency in our operational reporting and performance reviews,” Ojulari said.
He also stated that NNPCL would lean on NEITI’s global experience in providing feedback on performance reviews.
On the forthcoming NEITI 2024 Oil and Gas Audit, Ojulari said NNPC is fully prepared to provide comprehensive data for the 2024 and 2025 audits and would leverage technology to ensure efficiency and timeliness.
The NNPC boss re-iterated President Bola Tinubu’s mandate to the new Management Team to ramp up oil and gas production and expand the nation’s refining capacity.
He also stated that achieving these targets would require attracting at least $60 billion in fresh investments; a goal that can only be realised through sustained transformation, investor confidence, and strengthened partnerships with operators, government agencies, and accountability institutions such as NEITI.