Follow Us on Google
Uche Usim, Abuja
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Sunday disclosed that the Federal Government earned N69.47 billion from the solid minerals sector in 2018.
It said the figure was the highest in 12 years since it began reconciliation of payments in the sector, with Ogun State leading in states’ contributions.
The figure shows an increase of N16.71 billion representing 31.67per cent over the 2017 revenue of N52.76 billion. The earnings (N69.47 billion) also accounted for 16.69 per cent of the total revenues (N416.3billion) that accrued to the sector from 2007 to 2018.
Information on the industry’s earning for the year is contained in the latest audit report which reconciled companies’ payments and government’s receipts from the sector in 2018 as well as tracked production volumes and trends of revenues from the sector to the federation account from 2007 to 2018.
A breakdown of the receipts showed that taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) accounted for N65.69 billion (94.56% of the total) while fees and royalties paid to the Mines Inspectorate Department (MID) and Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) accounted for N2.21 billion (3.18%) and N1.57 billion (2.26%) respectively.
According to the NEITI report, “Nigeria has published eight cycles of solid minerals audit reports since it signed up to the EITI. The sector has contributed N416.32 billion in revenues to the federation in 12 years. Over half of this figure or (N279.0 billion) was earned between 2015 and 2018”. This shows that there had been a remarkable increase in revenues accruing to the Federation from the solid minerals sector over the years.
The report further highlighted that the sector had over the years, also witnessed fluctuations in revenue earnings. For instance, in 2015, N64.46 billion accrued to the federation, while in 2016, the earnings dipped to N43.22 billion. It will be recalled that 2016 was also the year that the Nigerian economy slid into recession.
The report disclosed that the main sources of revenue flows from solid minerals remains various categories of taxes, royalty, permits, annual services and sub-national payments. The report also stated that sub-national payments and other taxes accounted for “N1.54 billion representing about 2.23 per cent of total government revenue from the sector”.
On production, the NEITI 2018 Solid Minerals Report disclosed that 46.68 million metric tons of minerals valued at N47.87 billion were produced in Nigeria during the period. “The production data was based on minerals either used or sold during the year”.
A breakdown of the production volumes showed that limestone and granite accounted for about 80 per cent of the total minerals produced. Limestone alone contributed 54.85 per cent while granite accounted for 23.88 per cent of minerals mined.
On state-by-state production, the report disclosed that in 2018, most of the mining activities in the country took place in Ogun State. The state accounted for 12.66 million metric tons (27.13%) of the total volume produced during the period under review.
Ogun State was followed by Kogi and Benue states, each accounting for 22.88 per cent and 10.10 per cent respectively. However, on the bottom of the table are states like Enugu and Borno states which contributed 0.02 per cent and 0.001 per cent respectively.
