Reps To Uncover Alleged Missing N8trn Mining Revenue

House of Rep in Plenary

The alleged loss of N8 trillion from leakages and illegal mining of gold and other solid mineral resources in the country will be looked into, the House of Representative reveals.

According to the members of the house, an ad hoc committee looking at irregularities in the nation’s mining sector in the last five years would lunch the probe.

The efforts of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in curtailing and tracking the movement of minerals within and outside the country would alo be looked into by the committee.

The resolution was prompted by the need to diversify the economy of the country from oil revenue by Rep. Johnson Agbonayinma (APC-Edo).

In the motion, Agbonayinma described the mining sector as a key driver in national economic development, saying that Nigeria had the fourth largest reserve of bitumen globally.

According to Agbonayinma, apart from the coal resources which is in abundant, the country boost of the second largest iron ore deposit in Africa.

He blamed the importation of natural minerals which could be sourced for here, to the fact that the mining sector is underutilized.

According to him, reports by Signal One International, a United States-based firm in 2016, the nation lost 50 billion dollars in gold revenue tax over the last two years through illegal mining and exports of unprocessed gold.

He quoted the former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, as saying that inadequate tracking as the key challenge to effectively monitor revenue leakages in the sector.

Agbonayinma expressed worry that reports from the “Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) indicated that between 2014 and 2015, the country lost an estimated nine billion dollars to illegal mining operations and gold exports.”

When the motion was put to voice vote by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara, the members of the house unanimously adopted it.

The ad hoc committee currently investigating financial leakages in the country will also look into the allegations and report back in six weeks for further legislative action.