₦airaland Forum

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—THE Federal Government yesterday gave an insight into why it had been difficult to fully concession the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, citing legal encumbrances from the decision of the London Court of Arbitration over the ownership of Ajaokuta Steel Complex, ASC.  

Disclosing this in Abuja during the 2018 Budget defence of the Ministry before the Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South led Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said until all issues from the London Court of Arbitration were addressed, it would be difficult to ensure full concessioning of the steel complex.

Though the legal issue exists, Fayemi was, however, optimistic that concessioning of both the Ajaokuta Steel Plant and the National Iron Ore Mining Company at Itakpe, both in Kogi State would be accomplished this year.

This came as the Sole Administrator of AtSC, Sumaila Abdul-Akaba, told the committee that a 2010 audit report had indicated that $1.2 billion was required to turn around the moribund steel plant.

The sole administrator said the amount included balance of external infrastructure, noting that $513 million was for rehabilitation, completion and commissioning while 4687 would be used for balance of external infrastructure.

Sumaila Abdul-Akaba who appealed to the committee to ensure the total rehabilitation, completion and commissioning of the steel complex describing the plant as viable, also told the committee that by April 55 mw electricity plant installed in the complex would soon come on stream.

According to him, there were 10,000 houses in the complex with about 4,000 completed, assuring the committee that machines installed in the complex were first class,  “all we need to do is to sort out legal issues surrounding Ajaokuta Steel to bring the plant to run.”

He noted that over $10 billion steel imported into the country annually could be save if Ajaokuta was brought on stream.


Corroborating the Sole Administrator, the Minister, said that $ 1.2 billion was required to achieve total rehabilitation,  completion and commissioning of the plant, noting that of the total sum required, $513million was earmarked for rehabilitation while $687 million was to be expended for balance of external infrastructure.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/01/cant-concession-ajaokuta-steel-plant-fg/

Hmm this weird considering Fayemi went bragging to media all legal encumbrances were solved the other day. If London arbitration court rules against Nigeria whats plan b. I wonder what law makers are think when tgey hear budget us 1.2 billion dollars and all the issues will be solved. The 55 MW plant being ready in 3 months sounds good (if plant belongs to them).

when fg is ready for business it knows what to do.right now I am just laughing out loud

baralatie:
when fg is ready for business it knows what to do.right now I am just laughing out loud

There no way they're going to hand them a budget them a billion dollars a plant that's legally uncertain. If they get unfavorable rulling them they sank money into plant for nothing.

Blue3k2:
There no way they're going to hand them a budget them a billion dollars a plant that's legally uncertain. If they get unfavorable rulling them they sank money into plant for nothing.

Is this issue still going in circles? I thought the plant has been reverted back to Nigeria, while the iron ore mining company was given to that Indian company.

agabusta:
Is this issue still going in circles? I thought the plant has been reverted back to Nigeria, while the iron ore mining company was given to that Indian company.

They lied apparently. That out of court settlement must have been on a handshake instead of writing. It's same way he came out to say Fayemi came out say ALSCON ownership crisis has been solved only for appeal court to make a fool at out him.

Blue3k2:
They lied apparently. That out of court settlement must have been on a handshake instead of writing. It's same way he came out to say Fayemi came out say ALSCON ownership crisis has been solved only for appeal court to make a fool at out him.

ANALYSIS: Ajaokuta: How Nigeria’s largest industrial project failed

The Steel Industry is said to be the backbone of any nation.

The industry serves as stimulus to national development and economic boost to industrial growth of a country.

The Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State of Nigeria was envisaged to serve as the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation.

The idea of having a steel industry was conceived in 1958 by the federal government. Preliminary market studies were carried out and studies were initially directed towards the feasibility of establishing rolling mills.

However, because of the growing awareness of the availability of iron ore in Agbaja, Udi and other areas of the country, emphasis later shifted to establishing an integrated steel plant.

Late Tafawa Balewa and late Nnamdi Azikiwe between 1960 -1966 invited and received proposals from foreign firms, including those from UK, U.S., Germany and Canada, most of these being on the feasibility of establishing steel complexes.

The efforts of the government did not yield significant positive result because they were based on the use of iron deposits in Agbaja and Udi which were later found to be unsuitable for direct reduction.

In 1967, a team of Soviet experts arrived in Nigeria to conduct a feasibility study on the establishment of an iron and steel plant, as a follow-up on a technical/economic cooperation agreement between the governments of Nigeria and the USSR.

In their report, they recommended the use of blast furnace process of iron making. The report also pointed out that the known iron ore deposits in the country were of poor quality and recommended that further geological surveys be conducted to see if better ore could be found.

In 1968, Soviet geological experts came to Nigeria and after a general geological investigation reported that there were high prospects for richer iron ore and coal deposits in the country.

However, the federal government signed a contract in 1970 with TYAZHPROMEXPORT (TPE), a Russian company, under which they agreed to provide specialised equipment to carry out further geological survey to determine the quantity of the deposits of iron ore, coal resources in the country that could be used for the proposed iron and steel industry.

By 1973, suitable iron ore deposit was discovered in Itakpe, Ajabanoko and OShokoshoko all in the region around Kabba-Okene-Lokoja – Koton Karfe axis, now in Kogi State.

The TPE was contracted to prepare the preliminary project report for the proposed Iron and Steel Industry in Nigeria.

In 1975, during the reign of Murtala Mohammed, the preliminary project report specifying the raw materials base at Itakpe in Kogi plant site location (Ajaokuta), 1st phase production volume (1.3 mmt), process route (Blast Furnace -Basic Oxygen Furnace), Product form (Long products) submitted by TPE was reviewed, discussed and accepted.

TPE was subsequently commissioned to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Ajaokuta which was completed and submitted in 1977.

In 1979, Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL)/NIOMCO, Delta Steel Company (DSC), among others, were established under Section 2 of National Steel Council Decree No. 60 of September 19, 1979 and incorporated as Limited Liability Companies.

In 1980, former President Shehu Shagari laid the foundation stone of an integrated steel plant in Ajaokuta on 24,000 hectares of sprawling green-field landmass, built on 800-hectares.

The steel company has four different types of rolling mills inside the plant, such as the Billet Mill which produces billets; the Light Section Mill which produces round, square, strip and angles metals.

The Wire Rod Mill produces wire rods and rebars used in construction companies and production of nails, fencing wire, rope mesh, bolts and nut and netting and the Medium Section and Structural Mill produces parallel flange channels, equal angles, unequal angles and standard channels.

The four rolling mills are bigger than Aladja, Osogbo, Katsina and Jos rolling mills put together while the coke oven and bye products plant is bigger than all the four refineries in Nigeria put together.

In 1980 to 1983, the administration achieved 84 per cent of Ajaokuta steel plant as the Light Section Mill of the plant was commissioned earlier than the scheduled date, while the Wire Rod Mill was also commissioned in April 1984, earlier than the scheduled month of December.

In 1994, equipment erection work at Ajaokuta Steel Plant reached 98 per cent completion.

With all these achievements, it was, however, sad that the gigantic steel plant idea conceived and executed by past leaders had failed to contribute to the development of Nigeria.

The Ajaokuta steel that had reached 98 per cent completion as far back as 1994 had not produced a single steel till date.

The integrated plant was envisaged to have multiplier effects on all sectors of the Nigerian economy such as the industrial, agriculture, transport and construction sectors, among others.

The steel plant was designed to produce 1.3 million tonnes of liquid steel per annum in its phase one, with a built-in capacity to expand its production to 2.6 million tonnes of flat iron and steel products in its second phase and phase three plan was planned to produce 5.2 million tonnes of various types of steel products, including heavy plates.

The steel plant complex also has highly sophisticated assemblage of 43 different plants made up of a web of complex iron, cable and machinery of different sizes and functions.

Out of the 43 plants, 40 are already completed and can produce independently.

Ajaokuta steel has the capacity to become a major producer of industrial machineries, auto-electrical spare-parts, shipbuilding, railways and carriages.

The steel plant’s first phase has the capacity to provide direct employment for 10,000 technical staff and indirect 500,000 for unskilled upstream and downstream employment if it is in operation.

The federal government had spent over $10 billion over 34 years and would require another $2 billion to complete the remaining two per cent of the plant.

South Korea, which started its steel construction around the same time with Ajaokuta steel now has a revenue base of over N60 billion dollars per annum and employed over 65,000 staff.

Ajaokuta steel would have done better if it had started production.

According to World Steel Association (WSA) report, South Africa and Egypt produced 6.1 and 5.0 million tonnes of steel in 2016, while South Africa is the 22nd on the list of countries on steel production, Egypt is the 27th.

China, the world’s largest steel producer topped the chart with a production of 808.4 million tonnes representing about 50 per cent of global steel output for 2016, as Japan and India produced 104.8 and 95.6 million tonnes of crude steel to maintain the second and third position on the list.

Virtually all the nations that are playing big globally have enhanced capacities for steel production.

Even those that do not have any of the key mineral inputs needed for steelmaking had over the years developed the capacity to produce steel.

Japan and South Korea, for instance, have no mineral resource for iron and steel, but they rank among the world top 10 countries in steel production.

Nigeria that is blessed with raw materials such as iron ore, coal, natural gas and limestones needed for the manufacture of steel is still struggling with what to do with the dormant plant.

In June 2003, former President Olusegun Obasanjo conceded Ajaokuta steel to Messrs SOLGAS ENERGY of USA on a 10-year tenure; in August 2004, the Federal Government terminated the SOLGAS Agreement due to non-performance.

In 2004 and 2005, the Obasanjo administration, again, granted another concession to Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GINL) an India company for the operation of Ajaokuta steel and the Nigeria Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) at Itakpe in Kogi.

However, the Indian company did not live up to federal government’s expectation in managing the two companies.

Consequently, the late Umaru Yar’Adua administration was compelled to revoke the contract in April 2008 without meeting the requirements of the clauses built into the agreement.

The Indian company thereafter took Nigerian government to arbitration court in London, which also crippled the two firms.

In 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari fulfilled his campaign promise on Ajaokuta steel by settling the legal bottleneck surrounding the companies out of court.

However, the federal government signed modified concession agreement with GINL to enable the firm to retain the National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe.

The modified seven-year concession agreement was signed on August 1, 2016, while the federal government took over the Ajaokuta steel.

While the federal government was planning to reconcession Ajaokuta steel again, stakeholders in the Nigerian Metallurgical Society urged it to complete the remaining two per cent and operate the plant for few years before concessioning it.

The stakeholders also urged government to provide clear and articulated plan for the development and growth of metal production sector as the struggle for functional steel company in Nigeria continued.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/253680-analysis-ajaokuta-nigerias-largest-industrial-project-failed.html

So you are saying the out of court settlement never scaled through??

Blue3k2:
They lied apparently. That out of court settlement must have been on a handshake instead of writing. It's same way he came out to say Fayemi came out say ALSCON ownership crisis has been solved only for appeal court to make a fool at out him.

This country sef, one does not know what to believe again. The modified agreement was signed in 2016, which reverted back the plant to Nigeria and gave the iron mining company to that GINL. And it was done with so much fanfare.

It was VP Osinbajo that signed as Acting President of Nigeria. see pictures below, it even graced the front page of Nairaland.

More

Govt of d more U look d less U see

agabusta:
This country sef, one does not know what to believe again. The modified agreement was signed in 2016, which reverted back the plant to Nigeria and gave the iron mining company to that GINL. And it was done with so much fanfare.

It was VP Osinbajo that signed as Acting President of Nigeria. see pictures below, it even graced the front page of Nairaland.

Who knows maybe the reporters are wrong. It's a weird situation with these plants. I don't understand what business London arbitration court has if they already settled out of court.

After telling Nigerians the matter has been settled and now this again?

Then its better we accept there are powers outside this country that doesn't want Ajaokuta steel company to function cos it'll be a threat to their own steel industry and thereby they are ensuring ours stays non functional bottomless slot machine.

TheFreeOne:
After telling Nigerians the matter has been settled and now this again?

Then its better we accept there are powers outside this country that doesn't want Ajaokuta steel company to function cos it'll be a threat to their own steel industry and thereby they are ensuring ours stays non fictional bottomless slot machine.

it has nothing to do with powers here but the fg.if it wants investments in iron ore and manufacturing it will happen easily but if the fg plays this pattern of trying to cheat out investors and sending signals of this is fg scope of control. it will never get the success it says it wants!

if you want to know what went wrong let fg publish all documentation on ajaokuta alone and the parties and cronies involved.you will just be laughing out loud
you sold smelting plant to one party and you sold the iron ore to the other party meanwhile it is two of them

Blue3k2:
Who knows maybe the reporters are wrong. It's a weird situation with these plants. I don't understand what business London arbitration court has if they already settled out of court.

GINL sued Nigeria for 1billion dollars(I think) before the London Arbitration court for backing out of the initial concession agreement.

The case dragged for years, the parties then decided to settle out of court. This was what led to the agreement that was signed by Nigeria and the company, GINL.

The agreement ceded The Iron Ore Mining Company of Nigeria to GINL for another 7 years while Ajaokuta reverts back to Nigeria. Although this does not make sense to me as the plant will still depend on mined ore to function. If the company has messed up the initial concession, what is the assurance they will make the ore mining company productive?

Anyways, this was signed by the then Acting President, Prof Osinbajo. That is why I am confused at this latest development.

TheFreeOne:
After telling Nigerians the matter has been settled and now this again?

Then its better we accept there are powers outside this country that doesn't want Ajaokuta steel company to function cos it'll be a threat to their own steel industry and thereby they are ensuring ours stays non functional bottomless slot machine.

Now, I am beginning to believe this conspiracy theory.

And imagine, we want to import loads of steel from China for the massive railroad modernisation projects all over the country.

These imports will cost us billions and choke our already congested ports.

Why can't we insist that the steel be produced from here, no matter what it takes??

The multiplier positive effects on the economy will be unquantifiable. But the cunny Chinese may never agree, as they looking for where to push their cheap steel to.

baralatie:
it has nothing to do with powers here but the fg.if it wants investments in iron ore and manufacturing it will happen easily but if the fg plays this pattern of trying to cheat out investors and sending signals of this is fg scope of control. it will never get the success it says it wants!

We've read of alleged 'vested interests' within OBJ, Yar-Adua and even Buhari administration on this forum via investigations by a nairalander regarding this steel mill but as per FG trying to cheat investors? Kindly shed more light on that.

And for this matter to prolong despite attempts to resolve it I still maintain there are 'interests' outside the shores of this country too considering the amount spent yearly on importation of same product.