Declare state of emergency on mining – Reps task FG

The House of Representatives on Thursday called on Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the mining sector in the bid to maximize the huge potentials toward diversification of the country’s economy.

The House-in-session had expressed concern about the statement credited to the Permanent Secretary of Federal Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals on the 20th February, 2013 that a whooping sum of N8 trillion had allegedly been lost to these illegal exploration and mining of unprocessed mineral deposits in the last two years.

According to the NEITI’s 2007-2010 report, showed over 70 percent of mining title holders in Nigeria’s solid mineral sector are inactive companies, causing Nigeria’s
government huge revenue losses.

The resolution followed the adoption of the motion sponsored by Solomon Maren (PDP-Plateau), who expressed concern over the activities of some companies involved in illegal mining of solid minerals deposits across the country.

Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in its 2012-2014 annual report, showed that some companies operating in Nigeria are involved in illegal mining of solid minerals deposits across the country.

Maren who led the debate, observed that the illegal miners were reducing Nigeria’s stake in the solid minerals and other raw materials sectors as well as depriving the country of about 500,000 jobs for the teeming youths.

The lawmaker added that the illegal miners did not contribute to the development of the host communities as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), thereby leaving the communities devastated, impoverished and exposed to hazardous environmental conditions.

To this end, the House mandated its committee on solid minerals development to investigate the activities of miners, their collaborators and sponsors.

The Committee was also mandated to ascertain the extent of the involvement of both local and foreign firms in the illegal exploration and exploitation of the sector and report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.

The NEITI’s 2013 oil & gas and solid minerals audits, which was unveiled in May 2016, further stated that 619 entities made payments to the government in 2013, but the 2013 solid minerals audit reconciled payments by only 65 entities (63 companies and two buying centres) that made payments of N2 million and above.

These 65 entities (10.5% of 619) accounted for 90.49% of the total payments for 2013. Six government agencies were covered by the audit.

Major highlights of the solid minerals audit are as follows:
Revenue Flows to Government A total of N33.86 billion accrued to the Federation from solid minerals sector in 2013. Out of this, payments from cement manufacturing companies accounted for N30.47 billion (89.98%);
construction companies, N1.98 billion (5.83%); mining and quarrying companies, N1.42 billion (4.19%). The distribution of revenues among government agencies showed that N28.954 billion was collected by Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); N1.343 billion, by Mines Inspectorate Department (MID) and N704 million by Mining Cadastral Office (MCO).

Unilateral disclosures by companies not reconciled in the audit scope came to N2.861 billion while N748 million was reported as unilateral disclosures by government entities. Revenues from solid minerals
rose by 7.6% from N 31.5 billion in 2012 to N33.9 billion in 2013.

The report put the total production across the solid minerals sector increased to 46,280,996 tons in 2013 as against 37,808,063 tons in 2012. This 19% increase was attributed to a 33% rise in limestone production from 18 million tons in 2012 to 24 million tons in
2013.

Also, solid minerals sector accounted for an average of 0.09% of total export earnings for the year 2013 compared to 0.02% for 2012, with lead ores accounting for over 50% of the value of all solid minerals sector exports for 2013.