Solid minerals: Fayemi lauds NEITI’s efforts

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has lauded the supports of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI) to the ministry’s drive to generate more revenue.
The minister stated this when the Acting Executive Secretary of Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, presented a report by the organisation to him in Abuja on Monday.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Solid Minerals , Hon Abubakar Bwari and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Istifanus Fuktur.
Fayemi assured the NEITI boss of the ministry’s preparedness to develop a strategic engagement with the body in order to move the sector forward.
He assured the NEITI boss of the ministry’s commitment to the coordination of activities of artisanal miners in its revenue drive.
“We are committed to capturing more accurately activities of the artisanal miners”, the minister said, adding that their activities cannot be overlooked as they constitute a huge percentage of operators in the sector.
Earlier, the NEITI boss had made a presentation of the groups findings in the solid minerals sector, urging the ministry to make the minerals buying centres functional in the bid to coordinate the activities of artisanal miners.
Ogbonaya Orji said that NEITI’s reports showed a good percentage of the artisanal miners don’t pay taxes, a development he said is having an adverse effect on revenue generation.
It also urged the ministry to build the capacity of Federal Mines Officers as well as providing them with working tools.
The minister and the NEITI boss agreed that a team comprising officials of the ministry and the group would review the report with a view to implementing it.