The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has designed an audit template on fiscal allocation and statutory disbursements for the oil, gas and mining sectors.
This, it said, would address the mutual suspicion and distrust that had existed among the three tiers of government over the sharing formula for revenue accruing from the sectors.
The audit template, according to NEITI, contains a set of questions, whose answers will be provided by entities covered in the audit exercise through a designed questionnaire format.
The Executive Secretary, NEITI, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the audit exercise, which covered the period of 2007-2011, was part of the core statutory mandate of the body.
Ahmed spoke through a senior officer of the body, Mr. Orji Ogbonnaya, at a stakeholders’ template Workshop on FASD audit in Abuja on Wednesday.
She said, “This exercise will focus on FASDs of the extractive industries revenues from the Federation Account to the three tiers of government, as well as other agencies of government that directly receive allocations from the Federation Account.
“The audit is expected to cover actual disbursement of funds accruing to the Federation Account from the oil and gas sector to beneficiaries such as federal, state and local governments, and other relevant agencies, as well as tracking actual application of these funds.”
Ahmed said the audit would also examine issues surrounding the 13 per cent derivation to benefiting states.
She said the workshop was specifically organised to acquaint the Federal Government agencies as well as other government’s entities expected to be covered by the audit with the templates for the exercise.
According to Ahmed, the general application of the audit exercise in respect of statutory allocation received and how they were distributed and applied will be examined in the operation of key entities such as the Niger Delta Development Commission, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, and Central Bank of Nigeria with respect to development of natural resources.
She said the exercise would also cover the Federal Government’s share of derivation and ecology funds, administration and application of Excess Crude Account, as well as the 13 per cent derivation allocation to states and local government councils.