President Muhammadu Buhari has
rejected a bill seeking to stop the concession of Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Buhari announced his decision to
withhold assent to the bill via a letter read during senate plenary on Tuesday.
The bill for an act to provide
for the Ajaokuta Steel Company completion fund was passed by the house of
representatives in March, 2018, and by the senate in December.
In the letter read by Senate
President Bukola Saraki, Buhari said appropriating $1 billion from the excess
crude account, which the bill had provided for, is “not the best strategic
option for Nigeria at this time of budgetary constraints.”
“Furthermore, as the excess crude
account funds belong to the federation, it would be proper to consult with the
national economic council and the states,” he added.
“Relevant stakeholders, such as
the ministry of mines and steel development and the ministry of industry, trade
and investment were not fully consulted.”
There has been a lingering
controversy surrounding the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
The lawmakers had earlier asked
Buhari to direct Kayode Fayemi, then minister of mines and steel development,
to stop the process of concession.
Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the
house, had said $5.1 billion has so far been invested in the steel company
located in Kogi state.
The failure of the green chamber
to convince the federal government to shelve plans to concession the company
led to the introduction of the bill by 301 of the 360 lawmakers.
The rescucitation of the steel
company was part of Buhari’s campaign promises in 2015.
All they can do is to spend almost 300 billion Naira on school feeding programme, thia country is just a joke
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