The House of Representatives on
Thursday, resolved to investigate alleged loss of N8 trillion from leakages and
illegal mining of gold and other solid mineral resources in the country.
The probe, according to the
lawmakers, will be carried out by an ad hoc committee looking at irregularities
in the nation’s mining sector in the last five years.
The investigation will cover the
efforts of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in curtailing and
tracking the movement of minerals within and outside the country.
The resolution followed a motion
by Rep. Johnson Agbonayinma (APC-Edo) on the need to diversify from reliance on
oil revenue to alternative sources to cushion the effects of dwindling oil
revenue.
In the motion, Agbonayinma
described the mining sector as a key driver in national economic development,
saying that Nigeria had the fourth largest reserve of bitumen globally.
He added that Nigeria also had
the second largest iron ore deposit in Africa, apart from its abundant coal
resources.
The lawmaker lamented that the
nation’s mining industry was under-utilized, leading to the importation of
minerals that could be locally produced.
According to him, reports by
Signal One International, a United States-based firm in 2016, the nation lost
50 billion dollars in gold revenue tax over the last two years through illegal
mining and exports of unprocessed gold.
He added that the former Minister
of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, identified inadequate
tracking as the key challenge to effectively monitor revenue leakages in the
sector.
Agbonayinma expressed worry that
reports from the “Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)
indicated that between 2014 and 2015, the country lost an estimated nine
billion dollars to illegal mining operations and gold exports.”
The motion was unanimously
adopted by members when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu
Dogara.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com