Mining sector: 2,119 companies owe Nigeria N2.76 billion – NEITI

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has announced that the total debt owed to the federal government by mining companies reached N2.76 billion in 2020.

According to the NEITI solid mineral report, 2,119 mining companies were indebted to the federal government for failure to pay statutory annual service fees for various mineral titles.

In the past five years, a total of 7,605 mining titles were issued in the industry, with only 6,010 valid titles as at December 31, 2020.

As contained in a statement issued by NEITI, the total revenue generated by the mining sector in the past 13 years stood at N624.45bn. Of which N128.27 billion revenue was recorded in 2020, up from N74.85bn recorded in 2019.

Of the total revenue for 2020, N8.89bn was disbursed to the federal, state and local government as solid mineral revenue.

A breakdown of the figure showed that the Federal Government, States and local governments received N4.07bn, N2.07bn and N1.59bn respectively, while N1.16bn was recorded as derivation share.

NEITI further disclosed that total minerals exports in 2020 were 32.99 million tonnes valued at $42.46m, while China with 80 per cent of the total exports remained the major destination for Nigeria’s solid minerals exports.

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According to the report, 71.1 million metric tonnes of minerals were produced in 2020, while granite, limestone, sand and laterite contributed the highest to minerals royalty payments recorded within the period.

Five states including Ogun, Kogi, Cross River, Edo and Bayelsa topped the list of solid mineral producers in the period.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji, commenting on the report said, “It is of interest to NEITI that every kobo counts to reduce government financial burden, and our reports will continue to provide useful information and data on who owes what in the oil, gas, and mining sector.

“This is another impact that our reports will pursue in line with our mandate.”

Similarly, Dangote Cement Plc topped the list of companies with the highest mining activities in the year 2020, followed by Lafarge Plc, BUA International and Dantata and Sawoe with the highest production accounting for about 64 per cent of the total mineral production volume in 2020.