President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met with members of the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative, PAGMI, at the State House in Abuja. At the meeting, the President directed the authorities of PAGMI to provide a six-month progress report on the Solid Minerals Development Fund, designed to capture accruals from investments. Addressing the Steering Committee and Management Team of PAGMI, Buhari noted that the directive is to further ensure probity and best practice in the mining sector. He tasked the team to scale up operations in the mining sector by ensuring that investments go beyond artisanal and small-scale levels.
President Buhari also urged PAGMI to ensure that the Solid Minerals Development Fund fast-tracks delivery of other directives to support the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative. The president had in 2020, promised that the initiative launched to transform the nation’s gold industry into a major player in the global market, will generate about two hundred and fifty thousand jobs and over five hundred million dollars annually in royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.
However, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogar, who led the delegation on Wednesday, disclosed that between 2012 and 2018, five billion dollars in gold was illegally smuggled out of Nigeria.
Chidozie Chima | September 20, 2024
