Nigeria’s solid minerals revenue increases to N80b – NEITI

NIGERIA recorded an increase in revenue from its solid minerals sector in 2019 as it earned N79.96 billion from the industry during the period.

Data released yesterday by Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)’s 2019 Audit Report of the Solid Minerals Sector showed that the N79.96 billion accruals to the federation and other subnational entities was a 15 per cent increase when compared to the N69.47 billion recorded in 2018.

The 2019 earnings accounted for 16 per cent of the total revenues of N496.28 billion that had accrued to the federation from the sector over the period of 13 years (2007 to 2019) and was the highest since 2007 when NEITI commenced reconciliation of payments in the solid minerals sector.

A breakdown of the 2019 receipts as reported by NEITI showed that taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service on behalf of the federation accounted for N69.92 billion or 87.4 per cent of the total.

Fees and royalties paid to the Mining Cadastre Office and Mines Inspectorate Department accounted for N2.37 billion or three per cent, and N2.55 billion or 3.2 per cent, respectively.

Also, revenue accruals to the states stood at N5.1 billion, representing a 42 per cent increase when compared to the N2.1 billion recorded in 2018. The FIRS accounted for the highest flow to the coffers.

The NEITI report also disclosed that the outstanding amount of ₦8.887 billion which accrued from the solid minerals sector as at December 31, 2019, was distributed among the three tiers of government in May 2020, using the revenue sharing formula.

The balance as of October 31, 2020, was N3.948 billion.

A breakdown of the distribution showed that the federal and state governments received N4.073bn or 45.83 per cent and N2.065bn or 23.25 per cent respectively.

Further breakdown showed that small scale mining leases were the highest with 602 permits granted, followed by 501 and 169 for exploration licenses and quarry leases respectively, while least figure of 24 was recorded for mining leases.