The Federal Government on Thursday said
it would not repeat the mistake of the former President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s administration on the Ajaokuta Steel Complex in Kogi State.
The Minister of Mines and Steel
Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who stated this at a press conference in
Abuja, also said the present administration would not spend any money
to complete the steel plant.
Fayemi stated that the Federal Government had sunk over $8bn into the project since 1979 without any result.
The minister stated that no fewer than
14 organisations from different countries had since 2016 indicated
interest in the Ajaokuta Steel Complex.
He said, “We have also said to them that
we are not going to repeat the mistake of the Obasanjo administration.
We will not undertake the re-concession without one, a technical audit;
two, a transaction advisory service that will look into all these and
advise us accordingly as to who really has the technical capacity, the
financial wherewithal and the track record to really bring Ajaokuta back
to life.
“However, the government took a
principled position on one thing: that Nigeria will not spend one dollar
on the so-called completion of the Ajaokuta steel plant. The reason for
that is very simple; today from our record, we have spent close to $8bn
since 1979 when this process started and we have not seen the result.”
The minister added that the government
and the House of Representatives agreed on the concession of the plant
and that the House approved the sum of N2bn for the purpose in 2017.
The House had last week passed a vote of no confidence in Fayemi
and the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji
Abubakar Bwari, following their failure to appear before it for sectoral
debate on the steel plant.
The lawmakers also instructed the
ministers to suspend every step towards the concession of the plant,
adding that they preferred that the government should invest and
complete the project.
Fayemi, however, said that the
government had taken a decision not to spend any money on Ajaokuta since
over $8bn had been sunk into the project by successive administrations
since 1979.
According to him, the House agreed on
the need to give out the plant as a concession by approving N2bn for the
process in the 2017 Appropriation Act.
He said, “We are just implementing what
was passed by the National Assembly. That is why we are surprised that
we have been subjected to an unwarranted attack over the matter in the
last one week.
“Ajaokuta is an inherited challenge. The
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration gave it out on concession; the
President Umaru Yar’Adua government revoked it. And the case went to the
London Court of Arbitration. Its resolution in 2016 led to the signing
of the Modified NIOMCO Agreement, which ceded the complex back to the
Federal Government and NIOMCO to Global Steel.
“No fewer than 14 parties have shown
interest in running the complex, but government’s position is that we
would not do any concession without a technical audit.
“PricewaterhouseCoopers was engaged to
do a review of the company’s indebtedness and statutory liabilities as
part of the settlement agreement.”
The minister added, “The National
Assembly appropriated N2,096,500,000 for Ajaokuta concession in the 2017
Appropriation Act duly passed into law. We are just commencing what was
passed into law by the National Assembly.
“This is why I am surprised at how we
have been subjected to vitriolic attacks in the last one week. The March
1 sectoral debate, which we could not attend, was the first and only
one I and the Minister of State were unable to attend and we duly
communicated this to the leadership of the House.
“We take exception to allegations that
are not backed up by evidences. Allegations that officials of the
ministry have had their hands tied by the concessionaire are quite
unfounded.
“The Russian government has not
indicated interest in Ajaokuta. Yes, we have had offers from companies
from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and even Nigeria.
“Yes, I have met with the Russian
Ambassador the same way I have met with the Ukrainian Ambassador and
many other ambassadors. The Russian Ambassador told me they can offer
technical, management and audit support, but not as a country bringing
in money to take over the complex.
“Many are saying Ajaokuta is 98 per cent
completed. The ministry believes that can only be determined by the
outcome of the technical audit, which should be ready in about six
weeks.”
Fayemi reiterated that the President
Muhammadu Buhari administration was being painstaking with the Ajaokuta
Steel Complex, given the fact that it had been a victim of bad planning
and poor execution by past administrations.
“Our interest is to make it work so that
it can create jobs and wealth, and we are ready to work with the
National Assembly and other stakeholders to ensure its success,” he
added.
Fayemi condemned what he called
unwarranted attacks by the leadership and members of the House of
Representatives on the ministry.
“The House of Representatives has every
right to seek for an explanation on any matter relating to what they
have appropriated as one responsible for appropriation, and on any
matter of public interest. There is nothing fundamentally wrong in the
House and its leadership requesting our presence at the sectoral debate
that was called last week,” he stated.
Fayemi stated the ministry requested that the appearance of the ministers be shifted to another date.
“We did not think there was anything
untoward about our request for another time, partly because this was the
fourth time we were going to be speaking to the House of
Representatives on the Ajaokuta Steel Complex,” he added.
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