The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, has expressed confidence in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited under the leadership of Bayo Ojulari to deliver on the ongoing reforms and set new benchmarks for corporate governance in Africa’s extractive industry.

Orji gave the assurance in Abuja on Thursday during a courtesy visit to the NNPC management at the NNPC Towers. According to a statement by the NNPC on Friday, Orji “commended the vision of the new NNPC leadership, noting that its assumption of office came at a defining moment for the extractive sector, when reforms, renewed investor confidence and expanded indigenous participation were reshaping Nigeria’s oil and gas landscape.”

He urged NNPC to stand as a model of transparency, accountability, efficiency, and civic engagement, stressing that the values remained essential to restoring public trust and safeguarding the company as Nigeria’s greatest national asset.

Responding, the NNPC GCEO, Bashir Ojulari, said the company would sustain its collaboration with NEITI to strengthen corporate governance in line with global transparency and accountability standards.

Ojulari, who said the NNPC remained unwavering in its commitment to deeper disclosures and transparent reporting, noted that the company had since reinstated the publication of monthly financial and operational reports and strengthened its internal reporting structures to ensure greater accountability.

“In terms of full compliance with NEITI principles and global EITI standards, you have my full commitment. We will look to your guidance as we deepen this. We are already doing a lot of internal transformation to deepen transparency in our operational reporting and performance reviews,” Ojulari said.

The GCEO also stated that NNPCL would lean on NEITI’s global experience in providing feedback on performance reviews. On the forthcoming NEITI 2024 Oil and Gas Audit, the GCEO said NNPC was fully prepared to provide comprehensive data for the 2024 and 2025 audits and would leverage technology to ensure efficiency and timeliness.

Ojulari reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s mandate to the new NNPC management team to ramp up oil and gas production and expand the nation’s refining capacity.

He also stated that achieving these targets would require attracting at least $60bn in fresh investments, a goal he said could only be realised through sustained transformation, investor confidence, and strengthened partnerships with operators, government agencies, and accountability institutions such as NEITI.