From Uche Usim Abuja
A 2019 audit report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has shown that Nigeria earned N79.96 billion from the solid minerals sector in 2019. The figure, which represents accruals to the federation and other subnational entities, shows a 15 per cent increase when compared to the N69.47 billion recorded in 2018.
Furthermore, the report disclosed that the Mines Environmental Compliance Department carried out reclamation of seven abandoned mines costing N534.81 million. It also noted that a total of 32 mining sites have so far been reclaimed from 2007 to 2019 costing N2.39 billion.
The 2019 solid minerals report, released on Sunday, indicates that earnings accounted for 16 per cent of the total revenues of N496.28 billion that have accrued to the federation from the sector over the period of 13 years (2007 to 2019) and is also the highest since 2007 when NEITI commenced reconciliation of payments in the solid minerals sector. A breakdown of the 2019 receipts as reported by NEITI showed that taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on behalf of the federation accounted for N69.92 billion or 87.4 per cent of the total while fees and royalties paid to the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) and Mines Inspectorate Department (MID) accounted for N2.37 billion (3 per cent) and N2,55billion (3.2 per cent) respectively. Also revenue accruals to the states stood at N5.1billion, representing a 42 per cent increase when compared to the N2.1billion recorded in 2018. The Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) accounted for the highest flow to the coffers.
The NEITI report also disclosed that the outstanding amount of N8.887billion which accrued from the solid minerals sector as at December 31, 2019 , was distributed among the three tiers of government in May 2020, using the revenue sharing formula. The balance as at October 31, 2020 was N3.948billion. A breakdown of the distribution shows that the federal and state governments received N4.073billion or 45.83 per cent and N2.065billion or 23.25 per cent respectively. Besides, Local governments got N1.592billion or 17.92 per cent.