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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has called for full transparency and accountability in the operations of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, urging the Ministry of Solid Minerals to make all memoranda of understandings (MoUs) and contractual agreements public.
Speaking at the just-concluded Solid Minerals Ministerial–Legislative Retreat, the lawmaker emphasised that openness in the sector was key to restoring public trust and ensuring that host communities benefit from the country’s abundant natural resources.
“We would like them to be made available to Nigerians. All the various MoUs you have entered, we would like them to be made available to Nigerians, for us in the National Assembly and to Nigerians.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan urged the ministry to publish details of its contracts, engagements and MoUs on its official website, adding that such transparency would enable Nigerians to hold government officials accountable and help attract responsible investors to the growing solid minerals industry.
“We are in the age whereby people call for transparency because it’s from when you begin to disclose your various engagements and contracts that we can begin to say yes, our government is transparent.
“We cannot begin to demand accountability if transparency is not in place or if the various MoUs are not made public on your website. We are in the digital age and it won’t take much to publish all of this information,” she said.
Drawing attention to her home state, she lamented that despite Kogi Central’s vast mineral deposit, over 52 in commercial quantities, her people remain impoverished.
“In Kogi Central, we have over 52 solid minerals in commercial quantity; we are people impoverished in the land of plenty. Each time I have an interaction with my communities, I am constantly asked: when, how are we going to begin to benefit from the abundant minerals?”
The senator recounted a recent conversation with a colleague that revealed, for the first time, plans for her constituency to benefit from the mineral wealth within its soil, a discovery she described as both enlightening and troubling.
“For the first time, I got to know that my community is going to benefit from the abundant minerals. Nigeria has ruby, emerald, tourmaline and these minerals have been extracted and exploited. I do not think Nigeria derives revenue from that,” she said, expressing concern about unregulated mining activities.
She cautioned that Nigeria must avoid repeating the mistakes made in the oil and gas sector, where poor oversight and opaque dealings have led to massive losses and environmental damage.
“It’s very important that in the solid mineral sector, we must be careful. May I take this moment to applaud the efforts of the Minister, his initiative is driving speed but we must be careful in applying brakes so that we meticulously cross the T’s and dot the I’s, and we do not fall into the pitfalls that we have suffered in the oil sector,” she warned.
The Kogi lawmaker raised a fiscal concern that drew murmurs across the room, the management of the Natural Resources Fund, which receives 1.68 percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
“I would like to have one of you sit in there to explain how much or to let us know how much we have generated over time into the National Resources Fund,” she said.
“Because I repeat again, 1.68 percent goes in every time from the special funds, which itself generates its own supply from the Federation Account. How much do we have? How much have we generated in the past three years and how much do we have in there now?”
