Abuja rakes in $741b, more expected from PIA implementation
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Abuja has earned $741.4 billion revenue from the sale of oil and gas up to 2020, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Executive Secretary Orji Ogbonnaya Orji.
Orji disclosed the sum at a stakeholders’ engagement forum on the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in Abuja, where he also announced NEITI has conducted and published 25 cycles of reports for the period 1999 to 2022.
He said 2021 audit report is ongoing and will be published before the end of 2022.
“From the reports, we have so far released, the oil and gas industry has generated for the government $741.4 billion as of 2020,” he explained.
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Digitilisation of revenue tracking
Orji said NEITI reports have led to the recovery of billions of dollars from oil companies, tracked government spending and digitisation of those revenues, as well as company payments, per reporting by The Nation.
Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari stressed the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is built on the principles of competitiveness and fair and equitable sharing of risks.
He said the rewards are split into government, investors, simplicity of administration, and transparency to ensure stakeholders remain.
Kyari, represented by NNPCL Chief Financing Officer Umar Ajiya, explained the principles have helped economic growth through increased monetisation of crude oil and greater production of gas.
NEITI helps recover N2.6tr tax from oil firms
Orji announced in June that up to N2.6 trillion tax had been recovered from oil firms through the efforts of NEITI, after years of dithering over regulation enforcement that has contributed to national debt.
He disclosed the tax haul in Abuja at a Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and media engagement on Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) validation.
The revenue included all taxes, Value Added Tax (VAT) collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and all royalties collected by the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Another $2.6 billion tax as of March 2022 was outstanding with oil firms, he said.
EITI validation is conducted every three years and is a quality assurance mechanism to ascertain the level of compliance and progress in implementing standards among member countries, including Nigeria.
“By the time we release the 2021 report, if any company is owing Nigeria we will have no choice than to invite the EFCC to take over and handle it as an economic crime,” Orji warned.