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Senate passes Extractive Industries Bill with N30m fine

This bill which is aimed at taking the shroud of secrecy away from the mineral mining sector (including oil and gas), stipulates a fine of N30-million for any company that withholds revenue accruable to the Federal Government.

The passage of the Bill brings to an end a three-year wait since the draft bill was submitted to the National Assembly by the National Stakeholders’ Working Group (NSWG) set up as a caretaker of the institution among others.

Section 16 of the bill, under offences and penalties, says any extractive industry company that renders false statement of account or fails to render a statement of account required under this Act to the Federal Government or its agencies, resulting in the underpayment or non-payment of revenue accruable to the Federal Government commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than N30,000,000.

"Where the Extractive industry has been convicted of an offence under sub-section (1) of this section, the court shall, in addition to the penalty prescribed thereunder, order the company to pay the actual amount of revenue due to the Federal Government".

Sub-section 5 says that if any extractive industry company commits an offence against the Act, every director or other persons concerned in the management of the company commits the offence and liable on conviction to not less than two years imprisonment or N5 million fine.

It would be recalled that recently in London, NEITI’s efforts was praised by the British parliament. This was at a forum to expose Nigeria’s legislators to how such institutions work in more advanced countries.

The British noted that the positive sovereign ratings that Nigeria secured last year must have been greatly influenced by this effort to open up the oil industry via the NEITI.

At the London forum, the British also gave the indication that the UK’s strong support for Nigeria’s debt cancellation, which was secured last year, came after the country began to make progress on transparency, including the establishment of the NEITI.

It would be recalled that the NEITI organized a workshop in 2005 to sensitise oil industry stakeholders of the workings of the industry and what to look out for in order to hold operators accountable for the sector’s revenue.

On the heels of the workshop was an industry-wide audit by the Hart Group. The Hart Group was assisted by S.S. Afemikhe & Company, a Nigeria-based multidisciplinary practice of chartered accountants and procurement specialists.

One of the aims of the NEITI is an independent audit of Nigeria’s Extractive Industry (EI). Nigeria was one of the first countries to sign up for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).




	Senate passes Extractive Industries Bill with N30m fine Senate passes Extractive Industries Bill with N30m fine This bill which is aimed at taking the shroud of secrecy away from the mineral mining sector (including oil and gas), stipulates a fine of N30-million for any company that withholds revenue accruable to the Federal Government. The passage of the Bill brings to an end a three-year wait since the draft bill was submitted to the National Assembly by the National Stakeholders’ Working Group (NSWG) set up as a caretaker of the institution among others. Section 16 of the bill, under offences and penalties, says any extractive industry company that renders false statement of account or fails to render a statement of account required under this Act to the Federal Government or its agencies, resulting in the underpayment or non-payment of revenue accruable to the Federal Government commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than N30,000,000. "Where the Extractive industry has been convicted of an offence under sub-section (1) of this section, the court shall, in addition to the penalty prescribed thereunder, order the company to pay the actual amount of revenue due to the Federal Government". Sub-section 5 says that if any extractive industry company commits an offence against the Act, every director or other persons concerned in the management of the company commits the offence and liable on conviction to not less than two years imprisonment or N5 million fine. It would be recalled that recently in London, NEITI’s efforts was praised by the British parliament. This was at a forum to expose Nigeria’s legislators to how such institutions work in more advanced countries. The British noted that the positive sovereign ratings that Nigeria secured last year must have been greatly influenced by this effort to open up the oil industry via the NEITI. At the London forum, the British also gave the indication that the UK’s strong support for Nigeria’s debt cancellation, which was secured last year, came after the country began to make progress on transparency, including the establishment of the NEITI. It would be recalled that the NEITI organized a workshop in 2005 to sensitise oil industry stakeholders of the workings of the industry and what to look out for in order to hold operators accountable for the sector’s revenue. On the heels of the workshop was an industry-wide audit by the Hart Group. The Hart Group was assisted by S.S. Afemikhe & Company, a Nigeria-based multidisciplinary practice of chartered accountants and procurement specialists. One of the aims of the NEITI is an independent audit of Nigeria’s Extractive Industry (EI). Nigeria was one of the first countries to sign up for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).