The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, is partnering with anti-corruption agencies of the Federal Government to enforce compliance and sanctions in the extractive sectors.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, who disclosed this during a meeting with the Executives of the Energy Correspondence Association of Nigeria, ECAN, in Abuja, said the agency would be signing MoUs with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, to ensure that underpayments identified in NEITI’S audit reports were recovered.

He said the aim of partnerships was to ensure the enforcement of compliance and sanctions in the extractive sectors.

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Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji said,  “One of the challenges we have in implementing the EITI is compliance and enforcement. You are aware that reports are published in Nigeria and is usually (a challenge) to implement.

“This is because agencies just don’t think to do so. If there are no sanctions or incentives; sanctions for refusing to implement, incentives for doing well, everybody moves on and that is the bane of our society.

“That is why we said that we will have to align with those who have very powerful machineries to enforce sanctions. So in the next couple of days, we will be signing a draft MoU between us and the EFCC and it is being reviewed by the two organisations.