The Federal Government, yesterday, in Abuja said it can no longer deliver its promise to complete the Ajaokuta steel rolling mill in 2022, as earlier promised.
This came after it blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war for frustrating the project on several fronts.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, disclosed this to State House Correspondents during a Special Weekly Briefing coordinated by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government had before the pandemic successfully convinced Russia to complete the steel facility but could not proceed with the negotiations due to force-majeure.
The negotiations involved a $2million fee for a technical audit required to ascertain the state of the facility before works begin.
Adegbite further explained that the government moved to continue the earlier negotiations with Russia following the lockdown, but progress was stalled again due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
He, however, noted that the Federal Government would initiate irreversible processes to ensure the resumption and eventual completion of the steel facility beyond the Buhari regime.
Fielding a question about gold mining in Zamfara State, the minister said the government had halted mining activities in the area because the conflict went beyond mining.
On the government’s effort against illegal mining, he said, “we try to nip them in the bud wherever they rear their head. With the community reporting to us, we have a quick intervention force. We can’t be proactive, it is too expensive to maintain. But we have a quick intervention force.
“If we hear any mining happening in any nook and cranny, we move in there and dislodge them. Those that are arrested, we confiscate their equipment and they are prosecuted.”
Adegbite also revealed that the country has attained self-sufficiency in Barite production and would no longer need imports from October, 2022.
Similarly, the crisis involving Russia and Ukraine has cost the latter a $2billion deal to renovate the ailing Ajaokuta steel company located in Kogi State, Nigeria.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, had said that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the release of the funds to the Russian firm since 2020 but that while they were planning to mobilise to site the war broke out disrupting the contract.
As it stands, the Federal Government has secured a fresh commitment from a British firm to revive the struggling Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited at no extra cost to the government.
Adegbite took to the weekly briefings coordinated by the Presidential Media team to explain current developments concerning the project.
The minister said, “in October 2019, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and Russia’s Vladimir Putin met at the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi and agreed to revive the uncompleted Ajaokuta steel mill.
He noted that constraints posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic also delayed the take-off of the project.
Adegbite was, however, economical with the name of the British firm which will now handle the job.
Giving more insights, he explained that the arrangements with the Russian firm failed because the contract was awarded to a company with both Russian and Ukrainian interests.
He disclosed that the $2billion is safe in the federal government account, adding that “the money has not even been given to anybody; the Russians can’t get any payment now with the way things are happening in the world. All their accounts are blocked.
“So, the $2million is still with the federal government is just that the President has given the money for that purpose. We had started the process of procurement, then with this war, we can no longer go that way.
The minister revealed that the “British firm is offering to do it for us free now” adding that “By the grace of God, we have started an irreversible process. The problem with Ajaokuta is actually what we call force majeure. Nobody thought of COVID, because the plan was to deliver Ajaokuta this year 2022”.
The minister regretted, however, that the steel company may not be fully revamped under the current administration, as earlier promised.
His words, “ I’ve said it before, when we came back from Russia, yes, I went to the public and said, look we will deliver Ajaokuta before the end of this tenure. And I pray that I’ll have a chance to go back and apologise and explain what happened to the people before I leave office.
“It is due to no fault of ours. Everybody was ready to go, but unfortunately, COVID came in. So, it is a force majeure”.