THE Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI has agreed to work together with International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, in bringing greater accountability and transparency to Nigeria’s extractive industry through credible and public-value reporting.

NEITI’s executive secretary, Waziri Adio, affirmed his agency’s commitment to work with The ICIR when he hosted a delegation from the investigative centre on Thursday at NEITI’s office in Abuja.

He explained the key components of NEITI’s policy intervention that seek to end the worse development outcomes in Nigeria, known globally as  “resource curse.”

The intervention includes the conduct of regular audits of the extractive industry,  the identification of areas requiring remediation and information dissemination.

To deliver on this mandate requires a strategic partnership with key stakeholders, and NEITI is ready to work with The ICIR, Adio said.

“We are going to be working with you because we have the same interests and goals and we’re both held in public trust. We’re looking forward to working with you on knowledge exchange, capacity development and a broader understanding of issues in the oil and gas sector.”

Adio encouraged The ICIR and other media organisations in Nigeria to regularly engage with the reports published on its website to enrich their investigation.

In his response, the Executive Director of The ICIR, Dayo Aiyetan, noted the strength of both NEITI and The ICIR, especially in the areas of expertise in the extractive industry and investigation,  and how the two organisations can collaborate to forge a more enduring culture of transparency and accountability in the industry.

Having built the capacity for investigative reporting among journalists in Nigeria for years, Aiyetan said The ICIR is better positioned to take on the challenge of breaking the opacity that has characterised the oil and gas sector.

“The International Centre for Investigative Journalism (ICIR) has trained over 200 journalists on investigative reporting, data journalism and capacity building,” he stated.

But except for the collaboration of public-interest institutions with technical experience such as NEITI, journalists covering the extractive industry would struggle to produce quality accountability journalism, he added.

NEITI Director of Communications and Advocacy, Orji  Ogbonnaya, assured The ICIR delegation that the agency would always be ready to provide technical support and data that may enhance the investigative journalism project of the Centre.