Accountability in Extractive Sector, led by CISLAC, trains media, CSOs on beneficial ownership information

ARINZE NWAFOR

The Accountability in Extractive Sector (AES) cluster has trained media and civil society organisations (CSOs) to use beneficial ownership information to monitor how natural resources in Nigeria are expended.

The AES cluster, anchored by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), held its two-day workshop from June 26 to 27 

In the workshop sessions, facilitators stressed the need for CSOs, the media and government agencies to closely monitor the extractive industry to clean up the financial corruption that ails it.

In his session, Sani Ibrahim of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) taught journalists and other CSO members how to find the “true owners” of a Nigerian company through data on beneficial ownership.

Ibrahim, a member of the CAC Technical Team on Beneficial Ownership, said the Open Central Register of Beneficial Ownership works to increase extractive and corporate sector transparency and accountability.

The register, also known as Persons with Significant Control (PSC), discloses all beneficial owners of corporate entities in Nigeria.

Bassey Udo, the Media Initiative for Transparency in Extractive Industries’ National Coordinator, spoke on the roles and strategies of the media in the engagement of beneficial ownership information.

Udo tasked journalists to perform their duty of informing and educating the public by sourcing information on beneficial owners of companies with the tools introduced by CISLAC and liaising with relevant agencies.

He urged journalists to investigate Nigerian companies by interrogating and analysing issues around them and contextualising them for news.

Udo affirmed that there are risks in the job, “but they should be seen as challenges for media and CSOs to dig deep, to unearth the truth about the natural person wielding the ultimate control of our collective wealth.”

The CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa, noted that the PSC would expand the frontiers of the struggle for transparency.

“The expectation is that the Register would greatly enhance the fight against corruption and criminality by facilitating investigations by law enforcement agencies into the true ownership and control of companies and limited liability partnerships,” Auwal said in his welcome address.

He noted that the PSC would support civil society organisations in promoting citizen participation in public accountability and governance, and strengthen media capacity to perform its watchdog role in society.

The AES cluster partnered with the Niger-Delta Open Government Partnership Observatory (NOGO) cluster and MITEI to organise the workshop.

In addition to CISLAC, other members of the AES cluster are the Better Community Life Initiative (BECOLIN) in Imo state and Community Conciliation and Development Initiative (CCADI) in Port-Harcourt, Rivers state.

The others include Connected Advocacy for Empowerment & Youth Development Initiative (Connected Advocacy) in Edo state and Good Governance Team (GGT) Nigeria in Abuja-FCT.

The Institutional and Sustainable Development Foundation (ISDF) in Abuja-FCT, the International Centre for Women Empowerment and Child Development (ICWECD) in Delta state and Policy Alert in Akwa-Ibom state.

Also, the Social Development Integrated Center (Social Action) in Abuja-FCT/Rivers state, Speak Out Africa Initiative in Abuja-FCT and, Support for Training and Entrepreneurship Program (STEP) in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state