Mining companies owe Nigeria N2.76bn – NEITI

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says 2,119 companies operating in Nigeria’s solid minerals industry are owing the nation N2.76bn meant for statutory annual service fees for respective mineral titles.

NEITI said this in its latest Independent Solid Minerals Industry Report (2020) published yesterday.

The report said while 6,010 existing solid mineral titles were valid as of December 31, 2020, 7,605 mining titles were issued in the past five years. 

The report said the mining sector contributed a total of N651.55bn to the government’s coffers within 13 years.

It said the solid minerals sector contributed N128.2bn to the economy in 2020 rising from the N74.8bn recorded in 2019; while the federal government, states and local governments also shared N8.89bn solid minerals revenue in the year.

Nigeria produced 71.1 million metric tons of minerals during the year including granite, limestone, sand and laterite with five states leading by 66%; they are Ogun, Kogi, Cross River, Edo and Bayelsa. 

The top mining firms were Dangote Cement, Lafarge Plc, BUA International and Dantata and Sawoe producing about 64% of the volume.