Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has pushed for the implementation of the Beneficial Ownership Register in the extractive sector.
The Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, who was represented by the Program Manager of CISLAC Chinedu Bassey, delivering a speech at the “Scale Project Learning Event” in Abuja on Friday, said this commitment was made by president Buhari to implement a Beneficial Ownership (BO) Register of all owners of entities within the extractive sector, adding that the benefit of such implementation of BO transparency in the sector is a critical component of the government’s commitment to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative in Nigeria.
The ED said that the cluster has undertaken a series of mutually reinforcing engagements toward beneficial ownership transparency as well as the implementation of the NEITI audit report, especially since 16th May marks the beginning of the commemoration of 2022 OGP week.
According to him, the extractive sector in Nigeria suffers from corruption due to lack of transparency in governance. He therefore assured that the cluster will continue to strengthen the capacity of the extractive cluster members and offer stakeholders to undertake sector-specific advocacy.
He said, “The cluster notes that the extractive sector in Nigeria suffers from corruption resulting from lack of transparency and accountability in governance. So far, the reforms made to address corruption in the extractive sector have fallen short of desired goals. Year in year out the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative rolls out heart breaking figures on unremitted and unaccounted funds that could have been channeled into meaningful development for the good of the citizens. So far, there has been little or no impact on the lives of the citizens and relevant stakeholders have not been able to effectively engage and communicate in a manner that will mobilize citizens to exert the necessary pressure, demanding accountability from the government.
“It is our belief that the efficient and effective management of extractive sector resources will reduce poverty and inequality in Nigeria, the cluster is therefore committed to: Strengthening the capacity of Extractive cluster members and other stakeholders to undertake sector-specific advocacy; Advocating for a sustainable implementation of Beneficial Ownership Disclosure regime and Contract Transparency legislative/policy framework for the management of the extractive sector; Advocating for budgetary allocation for the implementation of the open Beneficial ownership register in Nigeria; Increasing sing awareness on the sector governance among citizens including youths for transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.
“We will not fail to highlight that this commitment was made by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to implement a Beneficial ownership Register of owners of all entities in the country and most importantly the need for this to be effectively implemented within the extractive sector and also within the EITI 2019 standards Nigeria is committed to publishing the contract of every transaction made within the extractive sector taken effect from January 2021.
“The benefits and efforts in the effective
implementation of BO transparency in the extractive sector is a critical component of the government’s commitment to the OGP initiative in Nigeria, towards advancing accountability and improving domestic resource mobilization for sustainable development financing. In advancement of the above objectives, the cluster has undertaken a series of mutually reinforcing engagements specifically towards beneficial ownership transparency, Implementation of the NEITI audit report remediation recommendations and contract transparency initiative in Nigeria.”
The ED added that the BO transparency sits within the framework of the OGP initiative which government signed up for in July 2016, hence the need to ensure establishment and maintenance of effective BO register for transparency in the extractor in Nigeria.
“As you may recall, Beneficial Ownership transparency sits within the framework of the OGP initiative to which the Nigerian government signed up in July 2016, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s ent to a full-scale anticorruption agenda at the international Anti-Corruption Summit held in commitment to a London in May 2016.
“This event is thus a very good opportunity to remind us the tenets of OGP which we signed up as a country, a mission to acknowledge all the doers, thinkers, creators and reformers who have successfully opened governments around the world, as it aims specifically to highlight and amplify the necessity and public demands for the application of Open Data Standards in the BO register, stronger inter-agency collaborations, issuance of effective regulations to strengthen foreign entities’ disclosures and sanctions regime, and sustainable funding mechanism for the establishment and maintenance of a BO register towards the effective implementation of BO transparency in the Nigerian extractive sector, ” he said.
The cluster which is anchored by CISLAC comprises of Community Conciliation and Development Initiative (CCADI) from Rivers state: Support for Training and Entrepreneurship Program (STEP) from Akwa Ibom state; Good Governance Team (GGT) Nigeria based in Abuja; Connected Advocacy for Empowerment & Youth Development Initiative (Connected Advocacy) from Edo state; Speak Out Africa Initiative based in Abuja: Policy Alert based in Akwa Ibom and Cross River states: Social Development Integrated Center (Social Action) based in Rivers state and Abuja; International Centre for Women Empowerment and Child Development (ICWECD) based in Delta state; Institutional and Sustainable Development Foundation (ISDF) based in Lagos state and Better Community Life Initiative (BECOLIN) based in Imo state.
