2,119 mining companies owe FG N2.76bn service fees – NEITI

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative on Sunday announced that 2,119 companies operating in Nigeria’s solid minerals industry were indebted to the federation to the tune of over N2.76bn.

NEITI disclosed this in its latest report of the mining sector for the year 2020, as it noted that Nigeria earned N624.45bn from the industry in 13 years.

The agency stated in a statement issued in Abuja that the companies’ liabilities resulted from failure on the part of the 2,119 firms to pay statutory annual service fees for various mineral titles.

It said 6,010 existing solid mineral titles were valid as of December 31, 2020, while 7,605 mining titles were issued in the industry in the past five years.

The NEITI report, which was presented multi-stakeholders in Abuja by the agency’s Executive Secretary, Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji, indicated that the total revenue contributions from the sector in 2020 rose to N128.27bn, an increase of over 54 per cent from the N74.85bn recorded in 2019 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commenting on findings in the report, Ogbonnaya-Orji 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.”

The NEITI report also revealed that the sum of N8.89bn was shared among the federating units as solid minerals revenue in 2020.

A breakdown of the figure showed that the Federal Government received N4.07bn (45.83 per cent), states and Local Governments received N2.07bn and N1.59bn (23.25 per cent; 17.92 per cent) respectively,  while N1.16bn (13 per cent) was recorded as derivation share.

The NEITI Independent Solid Minerals Industry Report tracked and reconciled financial flows in the sector, checked quantities of minerals produced, utilised and exported in 2020.

It also examined the governance and process issues in the sector, outlined key findings and made recommendations that required urgent remedies.

The report, for instance, disclosed that 71.1 million metric tonnes of minerals were produced in 2020.

A breakdown of the total production showed that granite, limestone, sand and laterite were the highest contributors to minerals royalty payments recorded within the period.

NEITI further disclosed that five states of the federation topped the table, contributing 66 per cent of solid minerals produced across the country that year.

The first state was Ogun, followed by Kogi, Cross River, Edo and Bayelsa states.

On companies’ activities that shaped business investments in the solid minerals sector, the NEITI report identified Dangote Cement Plc as the first, 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.

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.

From the report, a total of N3.87bn was recorded in 2020 as social expenditure, representing an increase of 49 per cent over the amount expended for the same purpose in 2019.