Govt set to facilitate collection of N2.76 billion owed by mining companies

The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has revealed that about 2,119 mining companies are yet to remit N2.76 billion to the Federal Government while 25 other organizations have no record of royalty payments despite exporting minerals since 2019.

According to RMAFC, the lack of commitment from these companies has created a huge concern as these continued discrepancies have been captured in the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) 2020 report.

Recall NEITI had earlier in its 2020 report, revealed that some oil and gas companies in Nigeria had failed to remit a tax revenue debt of N1.07 trillion owed the federal government as of March 2022.

In another report, the Federal Commissioner of RMAFC in charge of Cross River state, Eyo Nsa Whiley, also mentioned that over six mining companies had failed to provide any data on their activities thereby failing to comply with the NEITI Audit 2020.

According to the Federal Commissioner, RMAFC in Ondo state, Chief Tokunbo Ajasin, the non-responsive firms had a revenue loss of N54.25million.

Ajasin was speaking in Ondo state during a meeting on the nationwide monitoring of revenue collections of the sector in the state.

He added that when the overdue royalties of the defaulting companies are calculated, it amounted to about N482 million.

Ajasin further noted that the N2.76 billion outstanding liabilities owed by the 2,119 mining companies nationwide, were a result of their failure to remit the annual service fees for their respective mineral titles while also adding that the commission’s mandate was to ensure the full recovery of the debts from the mining companies.

Mr Wale Akinterinwa, the Ondo Commissioner for Finance, gave full assurance that the government would do all in its capacity to make sure the debts accrued to the commission by the mining industry in the state is recovered according to the guidelines stated in the NEITI Audit Report 2022.