Ike Amos
In its 2021 Oil and Gas Audit Report released recently, NEITI stated that the companies refused to provide information of the “natural person(s) who own or control interest in the companies neither were links to public listings provided.”
The other companies, according to the NEITI report are Addax Petroleum Development Limited, Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Limited, Midwestern Oil & Gas; Nigeria Agip Exploration and NNPC E & P Limited.
The extractive industries watchdog also stated that the beneficial ownership records of these companies were not listed both on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) portal or the NEITI portal.
NEITI explained that beneficial owners (BO) are persons or organizations that have the right to receive income and profits among others, from a property or investment that they own.
It said: “The EITI Standard of 2019, the global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources extracting companies has mandated in Requirement 2.5 that ‘implementing countries maintain a publicly available register of the beneficial owners of the corporate entity(ies) that apply for or hold a participating interest in an exploration or production oil, gas or mining license or contract, including the identity(ies) of their beneficial owner(s), the level of ownership and details about how ownership or control is exerted.’”
It noted that beneficial owner data was requested from all the companies covered in the report and the data obtained was used to update its beneficial ownership data portal, which is publicly accessible through its portal or the CAC portal.
It added that some of the companies have some form of beneficial ownership data publicly accessible either through the NEITI Beneficial Ownership Portal or the CAC Portal, except China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited, Enageed Resources Limited, Suntrust Oil and Company Nigeria Limited and Lekoil Limited.
NEITI lamented that majority of the oil companies in Nigeria are adept at concealing the real owners of the companies, as they exhibit a complex structure of ownership which makes it difficult to identify the real individuals behind the companies.
“It is also a common practice for companies to hold interest in other companies thereby shielding the identity of the natural persons who ultimately benefit from the activities of the company. This practice is not unlawful as the law permits legal ownership by corporate bodies,” it added.
