Towards transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector which is responsible for the more than eighty percent of the country’s revenue, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) commenced the oil probe follow up project to help the media and civil society demand the needed accountability in the sector as one way of contributing to good governance in Nigeria.
The project is conceived against the backdrop that the oil and gas sector is undoubtedly enmeshed in the biggest scam in recent times – and that Nigeria depends on the sector’s health. It is WSCIJ’s modest contribution to efforts to rectify the existing rot, and to achieving transparency in the Nigerian oil sector. The project has the following activities:
- Capacity development for investigative journalists in September 2013 to track and analyse [two] probe reports – the June 2012, Aig Imhokhuede-led technical committee on fuel subsidy removal and the August 2012 report of the Ribadu-led petroleum revenue special task force.
- Perusal and analysis of the probe reports by a team of civil society members which led to the writing and sending of a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
- Award of small grants for investigative stories on various issues thrown up by the probe reports to keep the issues on the front burner.