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Mining firms owed Nigerian govt N2.76bn in 2020 – NEITI

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$41.9bn worth of oil stolen from Nigeria - NEITI

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said on Sunday the over 2,000 companies operating in Nigeria’s solid minerals industry owed the Federal Government up to N2.76 billion in 2020.

The NEITI Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this when he presented the 2020 Solid Minerals report to industry stakeholders in Abuja.

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

Orji said the companies’ liabilities resulted from their failure to pay statutory annual service fees for respective mineral titles.

He 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 last five years.

The executive secretary said: “At this time that government is desperate for revenues to finance the widening budget deficits, NEITI is determined to use its reports to disclose potential revenue recoveries, awaiting immediate action by relevant government agencies.

READ ALSO: Groups decry poor regulation of illegal mining in Nigeria, others

“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.”

He revealed that the total revenue contributions from the sector rose by 54 percent from N74.85 billion in 2019 to N128.27 billion in 2020 despite the COVID-9 pandemic.

Orji noted that ₦8.89 billion was shared to the federating units as solid minerals revenue in 2020.

He added: “Breakdown of the figure shows that Federal Government received N4.07 billion (45.83 percent), States and LGAs received N2.07 billion and N1.59 billion (23.25 per cent; 17.92 per cent) respectively while N1.16 billion (13 per cent) was recorded as derivation share.

The executive secretary also disclosed that 71.1 million metric tons of minerals were produced in 2020.

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