President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative, PAGMI to provide a six-month progress report on the Solid Minerals Development Fund, designed to capture accruals from investments.
The President made the request to further ensure probity and best practice in the country’s mining sector when he met with the PAGMI Steering Committee and Management Team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He also charged the team to scale up operations in the mining sector by ensuring that investments go beyond artisanal and small scale levels. The President urged PAGMI to ensure that the Solid Minerals Development Fund fast-tracks delivery of other directives to support the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.
The President said all stakeholders should conclude the ongoing assignment of recommending a portion of accruals to be dedicated to the Solid Minerals Development Fund.
The President said the Responsible Mining Framework that was presented would result in an effective and transparent gold supply chain and demonstrate efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, human rights abuses, and respect for the environment.
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In his remarks at a media briefing after the meeting with the President, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, who led the delegation, said since the validation of the initiative by the President, PAGMI had created the opportunity for formalisation and mainstreaming of artisanal miners, giving them the economic opportunity to live.
The Minister said between 2012 and 2018, $5billion dollars in gold was illegally smuggled out of Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary of the Solid Mineral Development Fund, Fatima Shinkafi during her briefing, requested the President to, among others, increase the capitalisation of the Fund in order to extend to other states requesting its intervention which will enable the Committee meet up with its 5-ton target.
She added that the Responsible Mining Framework, presented by the Steering Committee meets international standard, and was produced in conjunction with other stakeholders like NEITI, EFCC and the Nigerian Customs Service.
According to her, it is believed that the document will eliminate criminality, lead poisoning, child labour, sabotage in the economy and terrorism financing.
The Committee had in 2020 presented the first ever artisanal gold mined and sourced within Nigeria to the President.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
