The federal ministry of solid minerals development has rejected claims by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) that the federal government breached the federal character principle by establishing a gold refinery in Lagos.
Segun Tomori, special assistant on media to Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, addressed the allegation in a statement issued on Sunday.
Tomori said the ministry’s response followed claims attributed to Abubakar Jiddere, spokesperson of the NEF.
He clarified that the gold refinery referenced by the forum is not a federal government project but a privately funded venture.
Tomori said the refinery belongs to Kian Smith, a mining company owned entirely by private investors.
“There is no iota of truth in the allegation. The new gold refinery is the initiative of Kian Smith, a 100 percent privately owned mining company which aims to facilitate the development of the local gold industry through innovative practices,” the statement reads.
“There was nowhere in the minister of solid minerals’ announcement that the federal government owned or established a gold refinery in Lagos or anywhere, for that matter.
“The minister of solid minerals development, Dr Dele Alake, was very clear, concise and emphatic in the announcement of the proposed commissioning of the refinery that other gold refineries are in the works across the country — and all privately owned by different companies.”
Tomori said the federal government merely congratulated Nere Emiko, founder and managing director of Kian Smith, for completing the project after years of effort and leadership.
He said the refinery demonstrates the response of the solid minerals sector to the ministry’s value-addition policy introduced two years ago.
“The refinery captures the response of the solid minerals sector to the policy of value addition enunciated by the ministry of solid minerals development two years ago, which discourages the export of raw minerals and localises the processing and manufacturing of minerals,” he said.
“This policy has stimulated the conversion of raw mineral exports to processing factories across the country, generating massive inflows of foreign capital and the provision of thousands of jobs to Nigerians.”
“These include the $600 million lithium plant in Nasarawa State, the $400 million rare earth plant also in Nasarawa State, and the $200 million ASBA lithium plant in Abuja.”
Tomori criticised the NEF, saying its recent comments marked a decline from its earlier role in national discourse.
“We are shocked at the debilitating degeneration in the quality of leadership of the NEF, an organisation that used to act as a think tank of serious discourse decades ago, which, by its recent utterances, has become a parody of its pioneers.”
“How could the NEF expect the federal government to force a private company to locate its operations in a particular area of the federation when each company has its operational and marketing strategy to ensure its profitability?
“How could the NEF fail to conduct basic due diligence and research before displaying such embarrassing ignorance while purporting to act on behalf of the North, a region that boasts of accomplished academics and professionals?
“This negligence could only have been the result of deliberate mischief, orchestration of mistrust and the acceleration of irresponsible militancy.”
Tomori said reforms introduced by the ministry over the past two years have encouraged increased private-sector participation in the mining industry.
He said the Lagos refinery illustrates the impact of the reforms and reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to promoting processing and manufacturing plants across the country.
Tomori also urged the Northern Elders Forum to support the efforts of Bola Tinubu, president of Nigeria, towards building a stronger and self-reliant economy.