Business
Mining: FG Warns States Against Royalty Payment Evasion

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, says the Federal Government will no longer tolerate evasion of royalty payment by states.
The Minister said this yesterday in Abuja while declaring open the 2019 Nigeria Mining Week organised by the Miners’ Association of Nigeria (MAN).
“Under the proposed Mineral Export Guidelines, there would be no room for royalty payment evasion.
“All mineral exports shall be inspected by government appointed independent pre-shipment inspection agents, who are empowered by law to render quantity and quality control services and monitor pricing.
“This control mechanism is in accordance with the Pre-Shipment Inspection of Exports Act,’’ the minister said.
He noted that while mining had a significant role to play in the diversification of the country’s economy, the sector was still classified as non-performing.
Adegbite said this was in spite of the abundance of mineral resources that abound within the 36 states of the federation.
According to him, the existing documented stock of mineral resources across the country, can kick start a boom in the mining industry.
He said it was, however, unfortunate that Nigeria still attracted low private sector exploration funding, a situation he said was unacceptable.
The minister noted that to address the situation, the ministry intends to partner with a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the industry to deepen government reforms of the sector and foster a conducive ecosystem for private sector participation and growth.
He said the ministry was poised to creating a value chain in the mining sector that would ultimately benefit the citizens.