Going by the decline in the nation’s revenue, especially from the crude oil earnings which are less than one million barrels production per day at present, the Federal Government has devised another means of generating more revenue for all the three tiers of Government, considering revenue from the royalties and other taxes attached to mining activities.
Recall that BusinessDay reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited posted zero revenue from crude oil export in the month of July 2022, as a result of low production, crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism which denied Nigeria the opportunity to earn more revenue from crude oil even when the prices went far beyond the $62 benchmark for the 2022 fiscal estimates.
Consequently, the Federal Government has mobilized the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Solid Minerals Development and Industry, Trade and Investment, to consider alternative revenue sources and block financial leakages, especially from the mining sector in order to have more funds to finance national budget and share among all the three tiers of Government.
The Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RAMFAC) is now saddled with responsibility of moving round the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to monitor and ascertain the level of financial leakages and the revenue lost in form of royalties and other taxes accruable from mining activities across the Country.
Speaking in Kogi and Osun States during the nationwide monitoring of revenue collections and activities of miners that extract over 40 different solid minerals in the country, Mohammed Shehu, the Chairman, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation Commission (RMAFC), declared that the exercise was centred on the mission to harness the vast revenue potentials and block financial leakages in the mining sector in order to shore up earnings accruable to the Federation Accounts.
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Shehu, who was represented by Abdulazeez King, a Federal Commissioner at RMAFC, at a Stakeholders’ meeting attended by Edward Onoja, deputy governor, Kogi State and other critical stakeholders in Lokoja, disclosed that a similar exercise was earlier conducted in 2016 by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation Commission and the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, saying: “ The ongoing exercise is to enable the Commission to follow up, verify and reconcile revenue collections in the mining sector.”
At another Stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo, the Capital of Osun State, one of the Nigerian States with large deposits of gold, Gboyega Oladele, the RMAFC Commissioner for the State, who represented Shehu, described the State as a gold mining hub, saying if the gold mining sector were fully harnessed, it is capable of providing jobs for thousands of youths, creating more wealth and earning more revenue for the Federation Accounts.
He added that there is also the need for Osun State as well as all other States with solid minerals deposits, to fashion out ways to reclaim the degraded land and guard against the activities of illegal miners with a view to blocking financial leakages and aggressively drive revenue generation from mining sector in form of royalties and taxes attached to the mining activities in order for more money to be remitted to the Government coffers.
But, speaking on behalf of Osun State Government, Wahab Oyeniyi, senior special assistant to the governor on mineral resources, urged the stakeholders in the mining sector to collaborate with the Government so as to fully reap the enormous economic benefits embedded in the area for the good of all and sundry, saying is unfortunate that Osun State is not fully reaping the benefits of the mining sector which is among the States with largest deposits of gold in the Country.
Oyeniyi decried the illegal and indiscriminate activities of artisan miners which he described as very unfortunate, pledging that Osun State Government would take full charge of the economic benefits of the mining sector, noting that it will go a long way in helping the State and the Nation to grow the economy as enormous deposits of gold and other 40 solid minerals in the Country have the capacity to drive the economic fortunes of the Country and earn more revenue for the Government.
Meanwhile, Adebimpe Ogunlumade, Permanent Secretary in the Osun State Ministry of Finance, stressed the need for both the Federal and State Governments to take decisive action for the State take full advantage of the solid mineral deposits in the States, Osun State inclusive, saying there should be more collaboration for better results.
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