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Apparently irked by the impunity and lack of accountability in the oil & gas and mining industries in the country, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has vowed to begin the prosecution of all observed criminal issues in the sector.
With this development, it will not be business as usual in the sector described by experts as opaque and corrupt.
This development was made known yesterday by the executive secretary of the NEITI, Zainab Ahmed, while speaking at an international news conference held in Abuja, during the visit of the international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) chair, Clare Short.
Ahmed, who disclosed that the NEITI Act permits the anti corruption agency to prosecute erring companies through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, said the agency had refrained from doing that over the years due to its belief in engaging the companies rather than going to court.
“The law permits the NEITI to take an entity to court through the office of the Attorney General but we have not yet had to do that. But if we are pushed to the point where we have to we will. We also have provisions in the law that enables us to interface with other anti corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). When we come across issues that are criminal we will not hesitate to hand over such issues to those agencies.
