…questions management of Natural Resources Fund
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) has called for full transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, urging the Ministry of Solid Minerals to publish all Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and contracts with investors.
Speaking at the just-concluded Solid Minerals Ministerial–Legislative Retreat, the senator said the Ministry must invoke the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to make details of its engagements public, adding that such openness would help Nigerians hold government accountable and attract credible investors.
“All the various MoUs you have entered, we would like them to be made available to Nigerians – for us in the National Assembly and to Nigerians,” she said.
“We are in a digital age; it won’t take much to publish these on your website.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan lamented that despite Kogi Central’s vast mineral wealth, her people remain “impoverished in the land of plenty.”
“We have over 52 solid minerals in commercial quantity. Each time I meet my constituents, they ask when they will benefit from these abundant resources,” she added.
She warned that Nigeria must avoid repeating the mistakes of the oil sector.
“We must be careful to cross the T’s and dot the I’s so we don’t fall into the same pitfalls suffered in the oil sector,” she said, commending the minister’s reforms but urging caution.
The senator also raised concern over the management of the Natural Resources Fund, which receives 1.68% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
“How much has been generated in the past three years, and how much do we have now?” she asked.
Reiterating her message after the retreat, Akpoti-Uduaghan emphasized the need for transparency in all agreements with foreign partners, the creation of a Nigeria Solid Minerals Company to regulate operations and environmental practices, and strict accountability in managing the Natural Resources Fund, which she said “should have trillions of naira for the sector’s development.”
Signing off, she wrote, “Over to you, Nigerians. Ask the right questions!!!”