In Five Years, FG Earned N39.648trn Revenue – NEITI

Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has said the total revenue accruing to the Federal Government in the last five years from all sectors is N39.648 trillion.

The solid minerals sector, according to watchdog organization, contributed N308.43 billion, representing 0.78 per cent.

This was made known in the watchdog organisation’s Solid Minerals Industry Audit Report 2019.

In its beak down, the total accruing revenue in 2015 was N6.959 trillion. In 2016 it was N5.679 trillion, in 2017, it was N7.350 trillion, in 2018 it was N9.444 trillion, and in 2019, it was N10.215 trillion.

The percentage contribution 0.99 per cent; 0.74 per cent; 0.72; 0.74 per cent; 0.73 per cent; and 0.78 per cent, according NEITI.

The document said of the total N10.215 trillion revenue that the Federal Government generated in 2019, the solid minerals sector contributed N74.87 billion.

In terms of export, “the report noted the solid minerals sector accounted for N124 billion of the total national exports of N24.275 trillion in 2019, representing 0.51 per cent of total for the year”.

The NEITI said “the solid minerals sector accounted for N124 billion of the total National exports of N24.275 trillion in 2019, representing 0.51 per cent of total export for the year.”

According to the report, in 2015 the solid minerals contribution to export was 1.44 per cent; in 2016 it was 0.13 per cent; in 2017 it was 0.57 per cent; in 2018 it was 0.34 per cent; and in 2019 it was 0.43 per cent.

The report said the total number of persons in the labour force in 2019 was estimated to be 80,291,894.

NEITI added that the solid minerals sector accounted for 18,545 employees with 294 reportedly employed in 2019; however, this information is limited to the 74 companies covered in the report.

The report said the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, through Mines Environmental Compliance Department (MECD), has in the past 18 years reclaimed 33 abandoned mine sites in the Nigeria costing N2.394 billion.

Besides, NEITI noted that in 2019, six mining sites were reclaimed in Plateau and Ebonyi states.

The report said: “To address funding issues facing the sector, the Federal Government provided an intervention fund of N30 billion to fund exploration projects that will generate the needed geosciences data and to provide the necessary regulatory framework to enable sectoral growth (MMSD press briefing, 2019).

According to him, the ministry is currently working on Mineral Export Guidelines that will address the lingering issue of evading royalty payment on export minerals.