The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, said Nigeria would not have found itself in its current sorry state if her handlers had been transparent in handling the nation’s resources.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice-President said this when he received a delegation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“If we (as a nation) had handled our resources better, with transparency, and good governance, we would not find ourselves where we are now,” he reportedly told his guests.
Osinbajo said that was the reason why President Muhammadu Buhari had decided to make transparency, especially in the extractive industry, a critical pillar of his administration.
“It is important for us that we handle our resources with transparency and good governance. One of the objectives that we have set for ourselves is to ensure that we are transparent and able to handle our resources well,” he added.
Osinbajo added that the government would work transparently and generate more revenues.
He stated that as a government, the Buhari administration was determined to work with the Nigeria Extractive Industry and Transparency Initiative to ensure good governance and keep proper accounts.
On the Petroleum Industry Bill, the Vice-President assured the delegation that government was working with the National Assembly to get the bill passed into law.
“We want to see what will come out of the bill because this will give some regulatory direction and we are working very closely to get that done,” he said.
Earlier, the incoming Chairman of EITI, Mr. Fredrik Reinfeldt, a former Prime Minister of Sweden, had commended Nigeria’s commitment to the EITI process.
He said he had been following the restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other developments in the oil sector.
The Vice-President also received delegations from the Nigeria Leadership Initiative, Class of 2015 and the National Institute for Legislative Studies.
He told the delegation from the NLI that considering the extent of efforts required to address the socio-economic impact of the insurgency in the North-East, Nigerians with the required capacity should partner different agencies of government to rehabilitate and rebuild the area.
“It would be useful to work with the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative to achieve some of its objectives,” the Vice-President told the class led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Dr. Okey Enelamah; and the Central Bank Deputy Governor, Mrs. Sarah Alade.
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