The Nigerian government has declared that it is being owed trillions of naira in unpaid royalties and taxes by legalised operators in the mining industry.
This disclosure was made yesterday by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, who added that efforts were on to block revenue leakages, insisting that all unpaid royalties would be recovered.
He made this known during a courtesy visit by the Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, Mohammed Bello, in his office in Abuja.
The minister further explained that the government had put in place measures to engage consultants to block the leakages and recover funds.
“From our efforts, so far, we have discovered to our chagrin that we are owed trillions of naira in unpaid royalties and taxes by legalised operators,” he said.
“We are committed to recovering these funds and also in the process of engaging internationally certified auditors to look at the system and automate the whole gamut of the revenue collection processes.”
A Former CEO of National Health Insurance Scheme, Professor Usman Yusuf has pointed out a significant concentration of ministries and agencies handling financial disbursements in the South West, asserting this as a factual observation rather than an allegation. Expressing concern about the President’s silence on the matter, he cited instances such as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s announcement of relocating five crucial departments to Lagos and Honorable Festus Keyamo’s proposal to move FAAN [Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria] to the same location. He questioned the given reasons of congestion and logistics, drawing attention to the historical relocation of the Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja due to congestion, emphasizing the need for transparency and a thorough examination of the stated justifications.
He said in an interview with Arise TV, ”Fellow Nigerians, we have seen it all. All the ministries and agencies that control and disburse money are in the South West. This is not an allegation, this is fact. And without talking to Nigerians, the President remains tight-lipped. When the CBN said they are transferring five crucial departments to Lagos and Honourable Festus Keyamo said he’s going to transfer FAAN to Lagos.
What reasons did they give? They said congestion and logistics. We have been to school and we are old enough to take out the truth from Fiction. The Federal Capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja because of Congestion. So don’t tell me you are going back to Lagos because of congestion in Abuja.”
