NEITI Conveys Stakeholders Engagement On Petroleum Industry Act
By Gift Eguavoen
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) will on tomorrow Tuesday, hold a stakeholder’s engagement forum on the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The event which will hold in Abuja will provide a status report on the implementation of the PIA and identify the imperatives for a viable, competitive, reformed oil and gas industry. It will also seek to harvest ideas from industry experts on managing the opportunities for Nigeria.
The Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Timipre Sylva are expected to deliver the keynote and special addresses respectively.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji stated that the forum is aimed at reviewing the draft regulations and model contracts developed by the implementing agencies and the Petroleum Industry Act Steering Committee and benchmark the regulations and model contracts against the EITI Standard, NEITI oil and gas reports and international best practices.
“The forum will also provide a credible platform to collate inputs from stakeholders – companies, government, media, civil society and influencers in the sector on the implementation of the PIA. As a statutory body and a leading multi-stakeholder platform for dialogue on natural resources in Nigeria, NEITI has a fundamental role to play in shaping the government’s policy on the natural resource governance using the regulations enshrined in the PIA,” Orji stated.
Extractive 360 reports that the event being hosted in collaboration with Oxford Policy Management (FOSTER -ICF) will feature Panelists which comprise seasoned policy experts including drivers of the Petroleum Industry Act, who will be sharing their views and looking at the prospects and challenges the new law offers. Policymakers, captains of industries, regulators, host communities, leading civil society organisations, the media and other energy experts from within and outside the country are also expected at the Stakeholders’ engagement forum.
