Federal Government Denies Establishing Gold Refinery in Lagos

The federal ministry of solid minerals development has rejected claims from the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) that the federal government violated the federal character principle by siting a gold refinery in Lagos. Segun Tomori, the special assistant on media to Dele Alake, the minister of solid minerals development, made the clarification in a statement on Sunday. Tomori said the ministry’s attention was drawn to allegations contained in a statement credited to Abubakar Jiddere, NEF spokesperson. He said the refinery referenced in the statement is a private initiative by Kian Smith, a mining company that is wholly owned by private investors. “There is no iota of truth in the allegation. The new gold refinery is the initiative of Kian Smith, a 100 percent privately owned mining company which aims to facilitate the development of the local gold industry through innovative practices,” the statement reads. “There was nowhere in the minister of solid minerals’ announcement that the federal government owned or established a gold refinery in Lagos or anywhere, for that matter. “The minister of solid minerals development, Dr Dele Alake, was very clear, concise and emphatic in the announcement of the proposed commissioning of the refinery that other gold refineries are in the works across the country — and all privately owned by different companies.” ‘NEF NOW PARODY OF ITS PIONEERS’ According to Tomori, the federal government congratulated Nere Emiko, founder and managing director of Kian Smith, for delivering the project after years of perseverance, enterprise and leadership. Tomori said the refinery reflects the solid minerals sector’s response to the ministry’s value addition policy introduced two years ago. “The refinery captures the response of the solid minerals sector to the policy of value addition enunciated by the ministry of solid minerals development two years ago, which discourages the export of raw minerals and localises the processing and manufacturing of minerals,” he said. “This policy has stimulated the conversion of raw mineral exports to processing factories across the country, generating massive inflows of foreign capital and the provision of thousands of jobs to Nigerians. “These include the $600 million lithium plant in Nasarawa State, the $400 million rare earth plant also in Nasarawa State, and the $200 million ASBA lithium plant in Abuja. “We are shocked at the debilitating degeneration in the quality of leadership of the NEF, an organisation that used to act as a think tank of serious discourse decades ago, which, by its recent utterances, has become a parody of its pioneers. “How could the NEF expect the federal government to force a private company to locate its operations in a particular area of the federation when each company has its operational and marketing strategy to ensure its profitability? “How could the NEF fail to conduct basic due diligence and research before displaying such embarrassing ignorance while purporting to act on behalf of the North, a region that boasts of accomplished academics and professionals? “This negligence could only have been the result of deliberate mischief, orchestration of mistrust and the acceleration of irresponsible militancy.” Tomori said the ministry’s policy reforms over the past two years have created an enabling environment for private-sector participation in the mining industry. He said the Lagos gold refinery proves the impact of the reforms, adding that the ministry will continue to urge miners to set up processing and manufacturing plants nationwide. Tomori further asked the NEF to support the efforts of President Bola Tinubu to build a stronger and more self-reliant economy.