NEITI top job: NUJ congrstulates, sets agenda for Orji

The Nigeria Union of Journalists, FCT Council, has hailed the appointment of Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji as the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari, on Thursday, approved the appointment of Orji to replace Waziri Adio, who served out his 5-year tenure today.

The NUJ said the appointment of Orji, who was the agency’s Director of Communications and Advocacy, would bring greater accountability and transparency to the extractive industry owing to his role as a watchdog, a statement by Emmanuel Ogbeche and Ochiaka Ugwu, chairman and secretary, respectively, said.

“Orji’s appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari is one of several in recent times that inspires confidence and hope that round pegs can fit into round holes.

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“The NUJ FCT remains persuaded that owing to his journalism background of holding government and its officials accountable to the people, Dr Orji will leverage on this and as an insider in NEITI to pursue greater transparency and accountability in the country’s extractive industry.

“It is noteworthy that he is taking over from another accomplished journalist and should build on the strides set by Mr Waziri Adio.

“It is regrettable that Nigeria despite her vast reservoir of natural resources especially in oil and gas and the several billions of dollars which accrue to the government from the extractive industries in terms of revenues has not achieved much human development outcomes as a result of corruption and poor tracking in the extractive industries,” the statement read.

The journalist union noted that Orji needed to work even harder to ensure that the extractive resources of the country worked for Nigerians by using advanced technology to monitor, track and ensure that all proceeds were duly accounted for.