Concerned stakeholders in the mining sector on Wednesday, August 21, urgedPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubuto prevail on sub-nationals to desist from alleged interference in the operational activities of the sector.

The group noted that the actions of some state governments are not only a disservice to the efforts of the federal government at attracting foreign investors to the sector but inimical to the growth of the industry which has not fully resurged from the coma of decades-long abandonment.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the spokesperson for Concerned Stakeholders of the Minerals and Mining Sector (CSMMS), Professor Akinade Olatunji said the situation in the industry requires urgent attention from the federal government as the unwholesome developments in the sector could extinct life it.

Olatunji identified the unbridled interferences of state governments in mining operations in their territories in contrast to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007 (NMMA 2007) which vested the Federal Government exclusive ownership and control of mineral resources as a major hindrance in the sector.

The stakeholders include the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS), Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), Women In Mining In Nigeria (WIMiN), Nigeria Society of Mining Engineers (NSME), National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Gemstones Miners and Marketers Association of Nigeria (GMMAN), ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines (EFEDCOM), Association of Miners and Processors of Barite (AMAPOB) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). 00 / 0.00

Lamenting the development, the group noted the interferences by the sub-nationals manifest in several forms, which include the establishment of ministries, departments, or agencies (MDAs) for minerals and mining by state governments and requesting that all duly licensed operators should register with such state-run MDAs.

Olatunji also cited the closure of operational sites using law enforcement agents and task forces not known to extant industry regulations; confiscation of lawfully mined products from operators without reasons; brutalization of personnel of operators in some instances, vandalization and setting on fire of hard-earned equipment and using the state apparatus to institute frivolous court cases against operators.

CSMMS said: These unchecked usurpations of the functions of the Federal Government by State authorities is a direct affront to the preserved rights of the Federal Government as enshrined in the Constitution and the Mining Act and has thrown the entire sector into confusion. These actions from the sub-nationals not only complicate the business environment for investors but also introduce a huge level of unquantifiable risks capable of hindering and sabotaging the Federal Governments vision for accelerated investment flows into the sector.

It is noteworthy that the unwholesome behaviour of state governments can be partly traced to the lack of establishment or effectiveness of the States Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCOs), as prescribed in Section 19 of the NMMA 2007 and Section 163 of the NMMR 2011. We believe that strict compliance with the Act and Regulations can curtail the infringement by states in the mining sector governance frameworks.

The cacophony of diverse policies emanating from the States that conflict with the enabling legislation governing the sector needs to be arrested lest the country end up in mass agitation for resource control over natural resources reserved by the CFRN to the Federal Government.

As stakeholders, we believe that the State and the Federal Government should be on the same page to ensure the attainment of the aspirations of the governments at all levels for the sector. The present situation where States are competing among themselves to ban or regulate the minerals and mining space in their States would only destroy whatever gains the sector had made in recent years.

The FG cannot be going round the world to seek for FDIs in the minerals and mining sector while the States are busy enacting and implementing measures that negate investment in the sector.

We, as Stakeholders, are alarmed and worried that the huge investments made by operators in the sector are currently being endangered by the actions of the State governments and their agents.

The group further argued that it is our considered view that if this situation is allowed to fester, the 7-Point agenda for the sector as enunciated by the Minister for the promotion of a resurgent minerals and mining sector would be undermined, compromised and unrealised.

On the recent move by the federal government to review the rents, royalties, and license rates, the group reaffirmed its support for an upward review but requested that the fees should carry human face.

Expressing concern the group argued that the astronomical hike in rates did not take into cognizance the high risk-cum-long gestation nature of mining, the current inclement economic climate in the country, and the dire need to nurture the struggling Nigerian Miners.(The Nation)