FEDERAL GOVERNMENT JUSTIFIES NEW RATE ON MINING SERVICES 09-08-24
By Sadiq Aminu The federal Government says the recent upward review of rate on all mining services is to sanitise the industry from speculators and make it vibrant for genuine investors .
In an interview with the Director General Nigeria Mining Cadestra Office, NMCO, Mr Obadia Nkom who was the chairman of the committee on the new rate, said many investors were in possession of licenses that was not utilized, a situation he noted had deprived prospective investors the opportunity to acquire desirable mining sites which the government had vowed to change.
”You find in areas a serious miner wants to invest, he has the financial and technical but unfortunately his area is not as viable as the next one to him, held by a speculator”He said.
He went further “The key thing is to sanitize, another one is to be able remove speculators to boost the industry to be able to allow serious players in the industry and concept of ‘Use it or loose it’” Mr Nkom said.
Mr Nkom explained that the rate which was last reviewed eight years ago against the five years stipulated review period was considered after much study of what was obtainable in other African countries.
On miners reactions about the increment, he responded this way ” It is not every body that will smile but I am telling you that we have recommendations from some major stakeholders “.
Mr Nkom lamented a situation where the country’s endowed mineral resources had not really been utilized especially with the over 600,000 licenses issued by the NMCO due to the activities of speculators.
“We have over 600,000 licenses, the big question is how many sites are working, when you look at it, there are just barely less than five hundred in the country “.
In the area of license racketeering, the Director General maintained that although the law welcomed transfer of license but revealed that government was going after those engaging in the sale of licenses especially the small scale miners.
For those who are unable to renew their licenses at the widow period , Mr Nkom said government was ready to listen to miners with genuine reasons as its policies were not rigid.
Some of the investors interviewed believed that the development would bring about transparency in the use of titles and the industry.