Business
Western Powers Blocking Nigeria’s Power Solution -Minister
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has accused western powers of being a stumbling block to Nigeria’s plan to improve power output through the use of coal.
Adeosun said this on Wednesday in Washington during a discussion on the importance of addressing infrastructure gaps in developing countries at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund General Meetings.
She said that improving power supply was the corner stone of the current administration’s goal towards economic development, yet finding it difficult to get support from western community.
“We want to build a coal power plant because we are a country blessed with coal, yet we have power problem. So it doesn’t take a genius to workout that it will make sense to build a coal power plant.
“However, we are being blocked from doing so, because it is not green. This is not fair because they have an entire western industralisation that was built on coal fired energy.
“This is the competitive advantage that was used to develop Europe, yet now that Nigeria wants to do it, they say it’s not green, so we cannot. “They suggest that we use solar and wind, which is the more expensive. So yes, Africa must invest in its infrastructure, but we must also make sure that the playing field is level,” she said.
Adeosun said that in spite of the need for foreign borrowing to finance the country’s infrastructure gap, the strategy was to get the cheapest money.
She said Nigeria’s debt to GDP remained very low but that the cost of servicing those loans was high. “Right now, we are being very conservative about our debt and we are trying to get the cheapest money possible from multilateral agencies. We are working very hard to make sure that we get multilateral funds first before we go to the euro bond market, which is a little bit more expensive,” she said.
She added that the country’s strategy was to get public private investments because even if Nigeria dedicated five years’ full budget to bridging infrastructure gap, it would still be insufficient. Meanwhile, a report released by the IMF showed that global debt was currently at a record high of 152 trillion dollars. The Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF, Mr Vitor Gaspar at a news conference, said the debt was 225 per cent of World Gross Domestic Product.
The report showed that 100 trillion dollars was debt of the private sector, while the remaining was public debt. To address the growing problem, the report suggested targeted fiscal interventions in form of government sponsored programmes to help restructure private debt. “Fiscal policy cannot do it alone – a comprehensive action using all three policy prongs, that is monetary, fiscal and structural policy.”
The National Economic Council has expanded the mandate of its Ad-hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft Prevention and Control to cover illegal mining.
This is just as the council raised the alarm that the nation’s solid minerals, including gold, are being mined and stolen.
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, who chairs the committee, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after the 153rd NEC meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.
Uzodimma said the expanded mandate is part of the government’s efforts to curb resource theft and increase revenue from Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.
“The National Economic Council Ad-hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft Prevention and Control, which I chair, presented an interim report today to the Council.
“NEC received our report with satisfaction and expanded our Terms of Reference to now also take interest in solid minerals, because our solid minerals are being mined and stolen and not adding to national revenue,” said Uzodma.
He noted that the expanded role would enable the committee to coordinate with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and other federal and subnational institutions to combat widespread illegal gold mining and other forms of mineral smuggling that have deprived the country of much-needed foreign exchange.
“Going forward, our committee, working with other government agencies, will look at how to ensure that the revenue of the country arising from solid minerals like gold and other forms of solid minerals are not allowed to be stolen,” the governor added.
NEC’s Ad-hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft Prevention and Control was first established under former President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2022.
It was reconstituted under President Bola Tinubu in December 2023 with Uzodinma as chairman.
The committee was initially mandated to address the challenge of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
Its creation followed rising oil theft that had crippled national production and forced international oil companies to shut down key pipelines.
At the time, oil production had crashed to around 700,000–800,000 barrels per day, far below Nigeria’s OPEC quota, costing the government billions of dollars in lost export revenue.
Uzodimma explained that through what he called a “collaborative approach” involving regulators, operators, and the security forces, the committee had helped raise daily crude oil production to over 1.7 million barrels per day in the past 22 months.
The governor stated, “Before May 29, 2023, when President Bola Tinubu was sworn in, our crude oil production was around 700,000 to 800,000 barrels a day.
“Working with stakeholders, the regulators, operators in the industry, and the Navy, we were able to involve all the governors of crude oil-producing states and raise different security organisations.
“You would agree with me that as I speak, daily production is now in excess of 1.7 million barrels a day, and cases of pipeline vandalism and vandalisation of oil assets have also been on the decline.”
The council, he said, was satisfied with the progress and decided to deploy the same model of intergovernmental coordination, private-sector partnership, and multi-agency surveillance to the mining sector, plagued by resource theft.
“We are determined to ensure that crude oil production and gas are properly preserved for the benefit of our citizens.
“Now, with this new directive, we will also protect our gold and solid mineral assets,” Uzodinma added.
Nigeria’s illegal mining economy, particularly in gold, lithium, and other high-value minerals, has grown into a multibillion-naira shadow industry.
According to data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the country loses an estimated $9bn annually to illegal mineral extraction and smuggling.
The Federal Government has linked several unlicensed mining operations to armed groups in the North-West and North-Central regions, where gold has become a source of illicit financing for bandits.
A 2023 NEITI audit also showed that over 80 per cent of mining activities in Nigeria were conducted informally, without licenses or environmental oversight.
In September 2024, the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development revoked over 900 dormant licences and announced plans for a national gold reserve policy. But enforcement remains difficult, with weak surveillance, limited manpower, and overlapping regulatory mandates.
According to Uzodimma, the expanded mandate aims to integrate the fight against illegal mining into the broader national resource protection framework previously used in the oil sector.
“We have done well,” he claimed, adding, “Among other things, we recommended that NNPC, working with security agencies and their consultants, should strengthen security in all the creeks and extend coverage to offshore regions. That will help in curtailing and supervising illegal entries and exits of vessels into our export terminals. This same spirit will now guide our solid minerals sector.”
The committee is expected to submit its first progress report on the expanded mandate at the next NEC meeting in November.
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