From Dennis Mernyi, Abuja
The Federal Government said it raked in about N33.86 billion from solid minerals sector in 2013.
This is contained in the 2013 Solid Minerals Audit Report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) released yesterday in Abuja.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, NEITI’s National Stakeholders Working Committee (NSWC) board Chairman, made the public presentation of the report at a news conference in Abuja.
He also said that 619 entities made payments to the government in 2013, but the 2013 solid minerals audit reconciled payments by only 65 entities, which included 63 companies and two buying companies that made payments of N2 million and above.
The 65 companies, according to the report, were 10.5 per cent of the 619 and accounted for 90.49 per cent of the total payments for 2013.
The report further submitted that six government agencies were covered by the audit, disclosing however, however, that out of the revenue, payments from cement manufacturing companies accounted for N30.47 billion, construction companies N1.98 billion, mining and quarrying companies N4.19, representing 89.98 per cent, 5. per cent, and 4.19 per cent respectively.
It noted that the revenue distribution among government agencies showed that N28.954 billion was collected by Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), by Mines Inspectorate Department (MID) and N704 million by Mining Cadastre Office (MCO).
Fayemi said, “unilateral disclosures by companies not reconciled in the audit scope came to N2.861 billion while N748 million was reported as unilateral disclosures by government entities. Revenues from solid minerals rose by 7.6 per cent from N31.5 billion in 2012 to N33.9 billion in 2013.”
He said payments from the solid minerals sector were not “dispersed” as five companies accounted for 93 per cent of reconciled payments. He listed the companies to include Dangote Cement, 53 per cent; WAPCO, 19 per cent; Ashaka Cement, 10 per cent; UNICEM, 7 per cent and CCNN, 4 per cent.
NEITI said that five states accounted for 72 per cent of the total payment for solid minerals in 2013, including Ogun, 25 per cent; Kogi, 20 per cent; FCT, 14 per cent; Cross River, 9 per cent and Oyo, 4 per cent. The report highlighted that there were lack of clarity on legal and tax regime in the sector.
The report further recommended that “the N2 billion that accrued from the solid minerals sector in 2013 should be shared to states in accordance with Section 1 of the Federation Accounts Act 1982 and the 13 per cent derivative formula.”