The National Assembly on Friday, through its joint committee on solid minerals, rejected the budget estimates of the Ministry of Solid Minerals over gross inadequacy .
Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Ekong Sampson ( PDP Akwa Ibom South),, declared this after the Minister, Mr Dele Alake, presented the ministry’s 2025 budget estimates before the committee.
The call for the rejection of the budget followed a motion moved by Senator Diket Plang (APC-Plateau Central ) and seconded by Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP-Kogi Central).
Moving the motion, Plang expressed displeasure that the ministry got just N9 billion as an envelope out of the N539.7 billion it proposed for capital expenditure in the 2025 budget.
The chairman, in his remarks, also expressed great displeasure over the ministry’s budget because of the importance of solid minerals sector to the diversification of the Nigerian economy.
“The estimates presented before us are grossly inadequate and will not help our economy at this critical period when we have to invest in the future, consistent with what obtains in other economies.
“We’ve taken this position in the interest of this country and as a support item to the vision of government as it were that this budget clearly needs a review.
“The need for this review clearly contemplates the peculiarities in the sector.
“Time has gone by and you have to take a very bold step in exploration, in data gathering, in tackling major drawbacks that have put us in dire situations as a nation richly endowed but faced, as it were, with the contradictions in abundance.
“It is the view of the joint committees that the budget of this sector be reviewed upwards.
“I think that is the spirit of the meeting, in the meantime, we will suspend further decisions on this budget unless those steps are taken”, jddddwww
The co-chairman, Rep. Gaza Gbefwi, representing Keffi/Karu/Kokona Federal Constituencies, also supported the move for the suspension of the budget defence.
“I move that we suspend this budget screening for the Ministry of Solid Minerals for the fact that what is appropriated to them, if it is true, is beyond imagination.
“And we are here to pass a budget not for the ministry, not for us, but for Nigerians and the progress of this country.
“I therefore propose that we step down this scrutiny of the budget presented to us and request that we invite the Minister of Planning and Budget to appear before this committee”.
Mr Alake had earlier in his presentation , informed the committee that the ministry in 2025, proposed N539.7 billion for capital expenditure and N2 billion for over head cost ,vmaking it a total budget of N541.7 billion for it .
“In contrite distinction to the avowed objective of the economic diversification of Nigeria away from oil into green energy, into harnessing the solid minerals sector, the envelope that the ministry received was a far cry from our proposal.
“We proposed N539.7 billion for capital in 2025, but the envelope that came is a paltry N9 billion”, he said