The Federal Government is owed roughly N1.06 billion in annual service fees by 238 companies, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
According to The Punch, this information was included in the newly released NEITI Industry report for the Solid Minerals Industry for 2021.
“From the IA review of MCO’s record of mineral title holders, it was discovered that 238 companies holding 289 valid licenses owed N1.06 billion in annual service fees,” the report stated.
According to the report, the debt climbed from N654.28m in 2020.
The statistics provided by MCO also revealed that “284 licenses held by 233 organizations still owe annual service costs of N654.28 million as of December 31, 2020. In the year 2022, the outstanding liabilities of these companies was N1.06bn.”
Additionally, it was revealed that 914 out of the 1,214 enterprises active in the field paid royalties.
Additionally, 121 businesses met the established materiality criteria and were in charge of 92% of the total royalty payments out of the 914 that made payments.
It revealed that in 2021, the combined receipts for the national, state, and local governments would be N193.59 billion.
Additionally, during the reviewed year, 2,045 licenses were issued, and 76,277,187 tons of minerals were produced in total.
Additionally, it was noticed that the minerals with the highest volume of production in the year under consideration were sand, clay, laterite, granite, and limestone.
The report continued, “Company analysis reveals that Dangote, BUA, and are the primary contributors to production quantity and royalty payment of 41,438,553 tons and N1.37bn respectively.
Notably, Dangote contributed significantly to both royalty (25.55%) and total production (37.72%). These numbers highlight the substantial impact that these big firms have in the mining industry.
In the year under review, Ogun recorded the highest production, with a total of 17.5 million tons, followed by Kogi with 16.3 million tons and Edo with 8 million tons, according to the report.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, revealed during the report’s launch in Abuja that the 2021 number showed a rise of N60.32 billion, or 51.89 per cent, when compared to the revenue flows of N116.82 billion in 2020.
However, he claimed that the 2021 figure was still appalling when you consider the sector’s potential contribution to the Nigerian economy.
