By Munachimso Obienyi
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has insisted that for Nigeria to benefit from the oil and gas sector with the newly restructured Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), there needs to be transparency in its reporting and its entire ecosystem of the sector.
The Brentwood institution stated this in its latest report titled, “Good Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities and Lessons. ”Again, it re-emphasised the need to strengthen oversight on the NNPC through the office of the auditor-general of Nigeria as well as improve legislative actions.
It stated: “Strengthening transparency is crucial if Nigeria is to receive maximum benefits from the oil and gas sector. The IMF’s Fiscal Transparency Code requires that resource corporations report on project-level fiscal payments to and from the government, reconciled with government receipts in line with international standards, with no major unexplained reconciliation errors.
In line with good practices, it is important for the NNPC to disclose all revenue transfers and remittances to the federation account by providing complete and timely information that ensures the accountability of its receipts and expenditures.
