NUPRC, NEITI Work To Deepen Contract Transparency

The Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced that it will work with Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency (NEITI) to deepen Nigeria’s implementation of contract transparency and beneficial ownership disclosures in Nigeria.

Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the National launch of the Opening Extractives programme in Nigeria by NEITI.

The programme was officially launched by Dr. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, represented by Prince Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning.

The programme will ensure that government, industry and civil society actors access reliable information on the ultimate owners of extractive companies.

Komolafe, while expressing commitment said the commission would work with NEITI to ensure that the revenues from natural resources assets would support national development and help reduce poverty.

“At the NUPRC, we have implemented Beneficial Ownership (BO) Reporting System, as it is a statutory requirement which demands full disclosure of beneficial ownership information,"

“To this end, the Nigerian Oil and Gas Asset Beneficial Ownership Register (NOGABOR) portal has been developed by the commission’s ICT team and it is live.

“The commission is engaging the oil and extractive companies to ensure their mandatory compliance,” he said.

He said the establishment of the NUPRC represented a major milestone in the reform and operationalisation in the oil and gas industry, given the decade-long journey to the enactment of the Petroleum industry Act (PIA).

He said that NUPRC and NEITI shared a common vision of transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s energy sector.

“The NUPRC is committed to collaborating on maintaining information on beneficial ownership to maintain data on companies that own extractive licenses, creating a better and healthy business climate,"

“The results of these is that citizens will be aware of who they are doing business with or competing against and will also encourage appropriate stakeholder engagement which is part of Nigeria’s Open Government Action Plan,” he said.

The NURPC Boss assured stakeholders of a transparent cost-efficient, safe, and sustainable framework for the management of the nation’s hydrocarbon resources in the best interest of the country and investors in line with global best practices.

He, however, commended the courage of President Muhammadu Buhari in signing the PIA which had brought about the much-desired assurances and trust for investors in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.