The House of Representatives on
Thursday resolved to investigate the revenue leakages of about US$50 billion
(N8 trillion) in the solid mineral mining sector, in the last five years.
Also to be investigated are the
activities of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in tracking and
curtailing all solid mineral movements within and outside Nigeria.
The resolution followed the
adoption of a motion to this effect by Hon. Johnson Agboyinma (APC, Edo).
Agboyinma, while leading debate
on the motion, had noted that there was urgent need to diversify Nigeria’s
economy away from crude oil to alternative sources in order to cushion the
effects of dwindling oil revenue.
He said the mining sector is a
key driver in National Economic Development as Nigeria has abundant deposits of
iron, coal and bitumen, adding that the under-utilization of the mining sector
has led to the importation of minerals that could be domestically produced.
“In 2006, reports by Signal One
International, a privately owned United States (US) company, Nigeria lost over
US$50 billion in gold tax revenue over the last two years as a result of
illegal mining and exportation of unprocessed gold,” Agboyinma stated.
He added that the former minister
of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had earlier identified
inadequate tracking as key challenges to effective monitoring of revenue
leakages in Nigeria’s mining sector.
Agboyinma expressed concern that
reports from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)
indicated that in 2014 and 2015, Nigeria lost about US$9 billion to illegal
mining operations and gold exportation.
He further noted that given the
current average price of US$1,200 per ounce of gold in the international
market, Nigeria is losing an unaccounted sum of US$4,232,40 per day to illegal
mining.
Contributing to the debate on the
motion, Aminu Shagari (APC, Sokoto) admonished that Nigeria should document and
guard all her solid mineral resources to avoid unnecessary waste and leakages.
For Beni Lar (PDP, Plateau),
although the tracking of solid mineral resources in Nigeria is irksome, unlike
in the oil and gas sector, “time has come for the government to do the
needful.”
However, Nnenna Ukeje and Sam
Onuigbo (both PDP, Abia), implored the Federal Government to expedite action
and block all noticeable revenue leakages in the solid mineral sector so as to
put more money into government’s pocket.
After deliberations, the motion
was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.
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