The Senate has summoned the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, over alleged poor regulation and loss of revenues in the mining sector.

This is just as its joint committees on Finance, National Planning, Gas Resources, Petroleum Upstream and Downstream, set N15 billion as target revenue for Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO) in 2022 as against N4 billion proposed by the agency.


The joint committee at a stakeholders meeting yesterday also threatened zero budget allocation in the 2022 budget for any revenue generating agencies without a clear cut revenue profile.

Invitation extended to the minister was sequel to the failure of Director General of NMCO, Obadiah Nkom, to furnish the committee with necessary explanations over reported low revenues being generated in the sector and the menace of illegal mining across the country.

The Director General of NMCO had in his submissions before the joint committee said in 2019, N2.58 billion revenue was generated and remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), which reduced to N2.3 billion in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic but already increasing in 2021 with N3.166 billion realised as at July this year out of the targeted N4 billion.

Expressing dissatisfaction with his submission, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, as well as other members expressed concern over why such an agency could not generate revenue beyond the threshold of four to five billion Naira.

The committee chairman said: “Your submissions on revenue generation are low and not impressive at all because big companies like Dangote Cement, BUA and others, with combined yearly profits of about N5 trillion are under your purview.

“These are aside other companies carrying out illegal mining activities across the country that are not captured in your revenue generation.

“A lot of Chinese are involved in illegal mining in the country without your agency or any other one saddled with regulation of the sector doing anything as far as licensing them and monitoring their explorations in the form of collection of royalties are concerned.”

Responding, the Director General emphasised that the mandate of his office is just for licensing of firms and not collection of royalties or monitoring of illegal miners or mining.

He said: “Our revenue is strictly generated from licensing and annual service fees collected from firms. Royalties and illegal mining are not under my purview and I cannot dabble into them.”

Unsatisfied with the DG’s submission, the committee chairman in agreement with other members, ordered the Clerk of the committee to summon the Minister of Mines and Steel Development for required interface on way out of the problem in the sector particularly as regards illegal mining and low revenue generation.

Olamilekan said: “The minister will have to appear before this committee for a required interface on way out of the problem in the sector.

“As for the Mining Cadastre Office, N15 billion is now fixed as targeted revenue generation for year 2022, because you have the capacity of meeting up with that as against four of five billion you are proposing.”

He added that in stopping the yearly budget of the country from being funded by borrowings, the Finance Act will be amended to make agencies fully funded by the government to remit 100 per cent of their revenues into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, those partly funded 80 per cent of their operational surpluses.
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Afonja Christian Olamilekan Adegbite. while at it investigate him for internet fraud, ritualism and gayism

They have put in a southerner here to take the fall. No laws to back revenue generation. No military backing and bandits are the ones lording over resources. No percentage accruing to the country from the activities. Zamfaras gold is for zamfara. And you expect him to generate revenue?

Thieves.

We know the outcome already
The minister will grease the right palms and that’s that about that