Operators in Nigeria's oil and gas industry given seven days to reveal their true owners

LEASE and licence holders operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector have been given seven days by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC)  to disclose the real owners of their companies or face sanctions.

Accounting for about 90% of government revenue, Nigeria's oil and gas industry has been the subject of a lot of controversy, as among other things, it is immersed in corruption. Across the sector, leases for oil wells are granted to individuals  under a chronystic arrangement with government officials and these are then sold on to industry operators for millions of dollars.

In an attempt to clear up some of the mess in the sector and reduce the level of corruption, the NUPRC is trying to identify those who actually really operate on the industry. In the directive signed by its chief executive, Gbenga Komolafe, the commission demanded that the information to be disclosed must include the identities of the beneficial owners, the level of ownership and details of how control is exerted.

He stressed that the full list of real owners of their companies is submitted to the commission. Mr Komolafe had also recently hailed Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative  (Neiti) efforts to promote open and accountable system in the management of extractive resources, explaining that NUPRC and Neiti shared a common vision of transparency in Nigeria’s energy sector.

According to Mr Komolafe, the NUPRC is fully committed to working with Neiti to deepen Nigeria’s implementation of contract transparency and beneficial ownership disclosures in the country. In the latest notice, NUPRC stated that those expected to comply with the directive, are persons with significant control of at least 5% shares and directly or indirectly holding the same percentage of voting rights, among others, adding that the significant persons were those otherwise having the right to exercise or actually exercise significant influence or control over a relevant person; or having the right to exercise, or actually exercising significant influence or control over the activities of a trust or firm, whether or not it is a legal entity.

Mr Komolafe added: “At the NUPRC, we are implementing the beneficial ownership reporting system, as it is a statutory requirement, which demands full disclosure of beneficial ownership information. The commission is engaging the oil and companies to ensure their mandatory compliance.”