By Onu Okorie
Regional Director- Anglophone and Lusophone Africa
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Gilbert Makore has called for due process in reconstitution of National
Stakeholders Working Group of Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparent Initiatives NEITI.
This was part of the statement made available to the media yesterday in Abuja. Makore also said that the key precondition to meeting this objective is that the MSG group must include adequate representation of key stakeholders appointed on the basis of open, fair and transparent constituency procedures; make decisions in an inclusive manner; and report to wider constituencies.
“Requirement 1.4 a)ii) notes that each stakeholder group has the right to appoint its own representatives, considering diverse representation and gender balance.
“The nomination process must be independent and free from coercion. Civil society groups involved in the EITI as members of the multi-stakeholder group must be independent of government and/or companies, both operationally and in policy terms.
“The EITI Standard and procedures relating to constituting the MSG and nominations for each constituency do not prescribe that any organisation should be represented on the MSG.” He said.
He also explained that it is expected that the nomination process to the NSWG be open for all interested representatives working on extractives in Nigeria and EITI International Secretariat can provide support to this process as needed, including providing clarifications, observing the process and sharing examples from other countries.
According to him, “in January 2024, the EITI International Secretariat undertook a mission to Nigeria, during which the Secretary to Government of the Federation committed to reconstitute the Nigeria EITI National Stakeholders Working Group to provide effective oversight on EITI implementation and NEITI.
“I am writing to clarify the process of constituting the MSG, particularly for the civil society constituency. The objective of Requirement 1.4 of the EITI Standard is to ensure that there is an independent MSG that can exercise active and meaningful oversight of all aspects of EITI implementation in a way that balances the interests of the three main constituencies”
