Leaders of 17 Civil Society Organisations have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stand by his decision to dissolve Boards of some federal government agencies and parastatals, especially that of the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
In a Letter written to the President, the leaders observed that several members of the board have lost their credibility, independence and neutrality.
The letter read “Following the recent commendable decision by your administration to dissolve the Boards of Federal Parastatals, Agencies and Departments in Nigeria including the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of NEITI, civil society organisations working on transparency, accountability and good governance in Nigeria’s extractive sector have observed with keen interest, some self-serving, individuals calling for the reinstatement of the dissolved NEITI Board.
“We are aware of surreptitious and covert moves by some interests to stampede the government into reversing this decision. These individuals have been making subterranean moves to truncate the reforms you are on the verge of instituting in the NEITI Board.
“Not less than three (3) members of the dissolved Board have displayed brazen partisanship, which runs contrary to the core values of a transparency driven institution like the NEITI.
“For references, the following can be confirmed by Your Excellency: Engr. Musa Nashumi: PDP Governorship Aspirant, Katsina State; Engr. Bassey Ekefre (Former Commissioner of Work) active participant PDP Presidential campaign team from Cross River State; Barr. Patrick Udonfang: PDP Director of Legal Services, Akwa Ibom, State; and Ms. Abiola Ige: Active participant in the PDP Presidential campaign team in the South-west.
“Indeed, all members of the Board representing each geo-political zone in the country were fully involved in partisan politics during the just concluded 2015 general elections. This has without doubt, eroded the level of credibility expected of members of the NEITI Board. Several members of the dissolved Board have compromised themselves and have lost integrity by engaging in activities that make them unfit to remain as Board members.
“There are indications that the dissolved Board interfered with the procurement processes for the appointment of the NEITI Auditors thereby compromising their independence. This is a violation of the fundamental principles of the EITI globally and the Public Procurement Act 2007.
“The findings already are quite revealing. All of these, including allegations of conflicts of interests in the award of contracts by some members of the Board, all combine to completely discredit the Board and makes its dissolution timely and deserving of further investigation as its status as an oversight body on transparency and accountability is completely lost.
“We however, recognise the role of some members of the Board; especially from the Professional Bodies, who conducted themselves with decorum, discipline and highest levels of integrity. We acknowledge their contributions and are aware that they did not compromise in anyway”.
The signatories included Ezenwa Nwagwu of Partners for Electoral Reform /NEITI CSO Steering committee Member; Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani) of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC); Idayat Hassan of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD); Jaye Gaskia of Protest to Power; Zikirullahi Ibrahim of Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) / Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED); Yunusa Z Ya’u of Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD); Okeke Anya of State of the Union (SOTU); and Lukman Adefolahan of Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC).
Other signatories to the letter include Olanrewaju Suraju of Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC); Isaac Osuoka of Social Action; Samson Itodo of Say No Campaign; Chioma Kanu of Women in Nigeria; Kolawole Banwo of National Procurement Watch Platform (NPWP); Akinbode Oluwafemi of Environmental Rights Action (ERA); Chinedu Bassey of Tax Justice – Nigeria; Mohammed B Attah of Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative; and Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi of Women Advocates’ Research and Documentation Center (WARDC).