Africa
THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has lauded the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for making oil and gas data available and transparent.
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Semiu Adeniran, gave the commendation when he visited the NUPRC headquarters in Abuja.
A statement on Thursday by Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, Head, Media and Corporate Communications, NUPRC said Adeniran, was accompanied by top management of the NBS.
Adeniran said oil and gas had contributed significantly to Nigeria’s economy and thus could not be ignored in data collation.
He said the NBS was not only the central custodian of data in Nigeria, but also the apex agency responsible for developing, managing, and disseminating official statistics to guide government policies and national development.
He said this was done in collaboration with all 774 local governments, the 37 sub-nationals including the FCT, academia, multi-lateral organisations, non-governmental organisations and other federal agencies.
He also said that since the NUPRC was the custodian of all upstream oil and gas data, the NBS could not effectively carry out its mandate without the help of the commission.
Adeniran therefore called for a deeper collaboration between both institutions.
”If we don’t get data on our oil and gas sector, we cannot release data on Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
”I want to commend the commission because for years, we have been getting basic data from the commission.
“So, we came to appreciate you for what you are doing because without this data, the government will not have the compass to drive the economy,” he said.
The NBS boss also named a team from the institution that would interact more closely and regularly with the commission, especially with regards to data on crude production, gas reserves, oil spill incidents and exploration and production companies.
”Presently, we are implementing the Integrated System of Administrative Statistics where we have on boarded 15 MDAs for us to be able to exchange data seamlessly through digital platforms.
”We are compiling Petroleum National Accounting which is under the Natural Capital Accounting system. So, we require a lot of data in order to build this,” he added.
In her remarks, the NUPRC Chief Executive, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said indeed it had become almost impossible to do anything without data.
While appreciating the quantum of work done by the NBS, Eyesan said the NUPRC released data on a regular basis in line with the Petroleum Industry Act which was often published on the commission’s website- www.nuprc.gov.ng.
”As government agencies, we must morph into the point where we automate our systems and then integrate,” she said.(NAN)
Tags: data Transpoarency NBS NUPRC