Senate threatens zero budget for non-performing agencies

The Senate, yesterday, threatened to punish revenue generating agencies operating without clear cut revenue profile with zero budget allocation in the 2022 fiscal year. This was as the apex legislative Chamber summoned the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, over poor regulation and loss of revenues in the sector.

The Senate also, through its Joint Committee on Finance, National Planning, Gas Resources, Petroleum Upstream and Downstream, gave a revenue target of N15 billion to Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO) in 2022, as against N4 billion proposed by the agency.

The Joint Committee summoned the Minister following the failure of the Director- General of NMCO, Engineer Obadiah Nkom to furnish it with needed explanation on low revenues being generated in the sector and the menace of illegal mining across the country. The Director-General of NMCO, had in his submissions before the Joint Committee, said that in 2019, N2.58 billion revenue was generated and remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) which reduced to N2.3 billion in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

He however, said that the revenue was already increasing in 2021, with N3.166 billion realised as at July this year out of the targeted N4 billion. But dissatisfied with his submission, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Lagos West), and other members, wondered why such an agency could not generate revenue beyond the threshold of four to five billion.

Adeola said: “Your submissions on revenue generation is low and not impressive at all because big companies like Dangote Cement , BUA etc, with combined yearly profits of about N5trillion are under your purview. These are aside other companies carrying out illegal mining activities across the country that are not captured in your revenue generation.”

In his response, the Director- General, said that the mandate of his office was just for licensing of firms and not collection of royalties or monitoring of illegal miners or mining.

(New Telegraph)