Roundtable on Beneficial Ownership Register held

*Petroleum Minister fully represented

The Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva was Thursday represented by his Chief of Staff/Senior Technical Assistant, Engr. Moses Olamide at the Roundtable on Beneficial Ownership Register in Nigeria.

In his Statement, Engr. Olamide noted that the Beneficial Ownership Register in Nigeria accurately reflects the pulse of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources on the need for transparency in the sector and aligns with the key priorities of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

He noted that there is need to clearly identify the key players in the Oil and Gas Industry with a view to understanding the “identity of who does what, where and how.”

He further reiterated that the current effort at reviewing the Petroleum Industry Bill captures Beneficial Ownership with a view to creating an Open and Globally aligned process that will ensure transparency.

The Roundtable which was organised by the Media Initiative on Transparency in Extractive Industries (MITEI) in partnership with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – NEITI (NEITI) was Chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed.

The Department of Petroleum Resources as an Agency of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria has been working collaboratively with NEITI to ensure the effective launch of the Beneficial Ownership Register for Companies in the Extractive Industry slated to be launched on 12th December, 2019.

Image Credit: Tunde Adeniyi for Business Day