The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has pledged increased financial support for the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to enhance its capacity to audit the petroleum and solid minerals sectors of the economy.

Gbajabiamila made this commitment Tuesday during a visit to NEITI in Abuja, where he expressed the Federal Government’s satisfaction with NEITI’s work since its establishment in 2005.

He noted that before NEITI’s inception, the public had limited knowledge of the operations of the oil and gas industry, including its earnings and payments to the government.

“We recognize the crucial work that NEITI is doing to bring transparency and accountability to Nigeria’s extractive industries. The Federal Government is fully committed to providing the necessary funding and resources to ensure that NEITI’s work continues to impact the nation positively,” Gbajabiamila stated.

He also promised to mobilize both political and social support for NEITI’s initiatives, ensuring that the organization’s efforts to enhance governance in the extractive sector are sustained and expanded.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed that since 2005, NEITI has conducted 14 audits in the petroleum industry and 12 in the solid minerals sector.

Dr. Orji explained that from 1999 to 2021, the Federation earned $764.52 billion from the oil and gas industry and ₦829.09 billion from the solid minerals sector.

He also highlighted that NEITI’s audits have led to the recovery of $7.2 billion in revenue from covered entities through inter-agency collaboration.

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Dr. Orji expressed his appreciation for the Chief of Staff’s visit and the government’s ongoing support, emphasizing that NEITI’s success in promoting transparency and accountability is largely dependent on the political will and backing of the government.

He expressed optimism that the visit would further strengthen the partnership between NEITI and the Federal Government and solicited additional funding to enable NEITI to execute its programs and capital projects.

During the visit, Gbajabiamila was given an extensive tour of NEITI’s state-of-the-art Data Center, where he was shown the technological advancements and data management systems critical to the organization’s operations.