Transparency and Good Governance in the Oil Sector

The upstream oil industry is the single most important sector in the country's economy, providing over 90% of its total exports. However, Nigeria's economy is struggling to leverage the country's vast wealth in fossil fuels in order to displace the crushing poverty that affects majority of its population. Too often, revenues do not get published; payments made to government remain secret; the pre-qualification of award of licenses are said to be fraught with irregularities and secrecy under the guise of Official Secret legislation. Similarly, inadequate financial statement make it easy to disguise corrupt deals and impossible for any interested stakeholder to monitor the royalties, taxes and fees being paid. This has led to the pertinent question of the level of transparency with regards to Nigeria's production information, local consumption figures, the procedure for award of contracts, licenses, how remittances to the national treasury and proceeds are utilized. This book is an attempt to review the transparency issues in the Nigeria upstream oil and gas sector in relation to the existing legal framework with specific emphasis on the need to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill.