Minister of Mines and Steel, Dr. Uche Ogar, has disclosed that Nigeria lost $5 billion (N2.06trn) to illegal smuggling of gold out of the country between 2012 and 2018.
The minister said this, Wednesday, while leading a delegation to brief President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President, in his address, charged the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) to move further to the next level by scaling up its operations in order to further ensure probity.
He equally requested the agency, designed to capture actuals from investors in the sector, to submit its progress report in the last six months to his office.
According to Femi Adesina, a Presidential spokesman, Ogar, in his comments, said since the validation of the initiative by the President “to address the structural and institutional factors such as rural poverty and lack of alternative livelihood, and difficulty in meeting legal and regulatory requirements that tends to push artisanalgold mining operators deeper into the informal economy,” PAGMI had created the opportunity for formalisation and mainstreaming of artisanal miners, giving them the economic opportunity to live.
He said between 2012 and 2018, N2.06trn in gold was illegally smuggled out of Nigeria. Buhari at the briefing said: “The PAGMI Management Team should now develop innovative ways to move PAGMI to the next level to ensure the Nigerian mining story goes beyond artisanal and small-scale mining.”
He said he supported the Steering Committee’s target of aggregating 3-5 tons of gold over the next 12 months, saying that would deliver tremendous fiscal and economic benefits to the nation.
He added that the Solid Minerals Development Fund should work with all relevant Government agencies to identify the support and funding needed to deliver on the aggregation target.
“Now that you have successfully delivered a pilot scheme in Kebbi State, it is time to roll out and expand sustainably across other states.
The government is committed to providing all the necessary support required,” he said. President Buhari urged PAGMI to ensure that the Solid Minerals Development Fund fast-tracked delivery of other directives to support the Presidential Fertilizer Initiatives
