A CIVIL society organisation, OrderPaper Advocacy Initiative in partnership with the Civil Society Steering Committee (CSSC) department of Nigeria Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) are set to launch RemTrack Mobile application to foster transparency and audit in the extractive industry.
In a statement obtained by The ICIR, OrderPaper and NEITI, it read that the RemTrack application will be effective in tracking the remediation issues contained in the annual audit reports of the NEITI.
The press statement read that the RemTrack app will be presented by the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio and other stakeholders to the public on Tuesday, December 3, in Lagos to mark the formal commencement of public engagement of the tool.
The RemTrack application was said to follow over a year-long period of consultations and co-creation driven by OrderPaper and the CSSC.
It added that RemTrack app was designed as a technology-for-development intervention built to organize the audit reports into user-friendly data on remediation issues, progress and outcomes of reconciliation, and the covered entities
The app is said to be designed for android and apple devices to be used in mobile phones and other hand-held devices while there is also provision for a website (www.remtrack.ng).
According to the statement, ‘RemTrack is a global innovation being the first of its kind throughout the world conceived to foster the implementation of the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) process in Nigeria. The app clearly aligns with the drive of the global body to encourage the use of data and technology to promote the key objectives of transparency and accountability in the extractives sector of all implementing countries’.
Highlighting the benefits of the mobile application, the app is to be used as a tool to stimulate informed and healthy public engagement in the extractives sector, enhance evidence-based advocacy by civil society.
“The unveiling of the RemTrack app broadens the opportunities of the civil society and the citizens to track key findings and recommended in NEITI reports, the process of implementation and how the impact feeds into the on-going overall reform agenda of the extractive industries. This is a major civil society contribution to deepen NEITI process in Nigeria,” the statement added.
The statement further read that the ultimate objective of the RemTrack intervention is to stimulate the resolution of pending remedial issues for the sake of ensuring that the benefits of Nigeria’s huge extractives resources impact positively on the lives and living conditions of citizens.
The Chairman of the Civil Society Steering Committee (CSSC), NEITI, Kolawole Banwo said the CSSC Board serves as the interface between the civil society constituency and other stakeholders within the NEITI implementation process.
He added that the CSSC is made up of 15 members as provided for in the NEITI Act 2007 to serves as the voice of civil society and citizens, mobilizes participation, disseminates information and promotes debates on issues within the extractive sector.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94