FG Hires Consultants to Probe Minerals Sector’s Revenue Leakages

• FG Hires Consultants to Probe Minerals Sector’s Revenue Leakages

The Federal Government on Monday inaugurated 100 consultants to probe revenue leakages in the mines and minerals sector of the economy between 2012 and 2017 in an exercise titled: ‘Revenue Optimisation and Verification Project’.

At the inauguration, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Abdukadir Muazu, said the consultants would be paid based on how much they were able to realise for the Federation Account.

Fayemi stated, “It is regrettable that in spite of our good efforts, we still have economic saboteurs in the sector who wish to undermine efforts of government by failing in their responsibilities to render to the Federation Account the fair due in royalties and taxes.

“Indeed, leakages in government revenue remain a big challenge in the sector, which we are working collaboratively with other government entities and sector stakeholders to fix. We have given considerable thought to this challenge and come up with a number of strategies to tackle it, one of which we are witnessing its launch today.”

He added, “I am, therefore, pleased to announce that following the approval of the National Economic Council, we are today inaugurating a new model of revenue generation and collection in the mining sector. This entails the engagement of professional revenue consultants, who will work with our ministry’s mining officers to identify revenue leakages in the system.

“The deployment of consultants became imperative considering the funding and manpower challenges of the ministry. The consultants will add value to the ministry’s efforts and contribute the much-needed technical expertise, while also working on a no-win, no-fee basis, thus costing us nothing upfront.”

The minister said the Revenue Optimisation and Verification Project would seek to confirm the adequacy of royalty remittances made by the various operators in the mining industry.

He stated that the consultants were mandated to collect and analyse data from 2012 to 2017 in the course of their work, thus giving the government an opportunity to demand and receive accruals due to it from the referenced period.

It will also ensure the compliance of all operators to paying the correct amounts in royalties to the government’s coffers.