By chibisi Ohakah, Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has won an award as the overall best company in oil and gas reforms at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) global awards held in Seoul, South Korea. Nigeria won the award ahead other countries in Africa and the Middle East that were implementing the OGP at the summit of member countries, for setting up a beneficial ownership registry to end anonymous companies in the country.
Deputy director, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Ms Obiageli Onuorah, said in a statement that many factors were considered before Nigeria was picked for the award.
Ms Onuorah said the summit considered the government’s overall commitment to reforms in the oil, gas and mining sectors and its support to NEITI to establish a beneficial ownership register of companies in business in Nigeria’s extractive sector.
Also considered were the broader reforms in beneficial ownership disclosure by the CAC through the amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and the recent Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Commenting on the feat, Executive Secretary of NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, noted that the international community was beginning to assess Nigeria’s efforts at fighting corruption and deepening its democracy.
He described the award as impressive and encouraging, considering the political will and enormous resources the government had deployed to reposition the extractive industry to benefit all Nigerians.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, congratulated Nigeria on the award and noted that establishing a beneficial ownership register had helped Nigeria “track, reduce and arrest corrupt practices that are undertaken either by companies or beneficial owners of companies.”
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a partnership of 78 countries and 76 local governments – together representing more than two billion people – along with thousands of civil society organizations.
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