The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has warned that illicit mining activities, weak regulatory oversight and criminal infiltration of mining communities are draining Nigeria’s mineral wealth and undermining efforts to diversify the economy.
The warning was contained in a press statement issued on Thursday by
The Director of Communications and Stakeholders Management of NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, said in a statement titled “Stemming the Scourge of Illicit Financial Flows in Nigeria’s Mining Sector”, that despite Nigeria’s vast deposits of gold, lithium, limestone, and gemstones, illicit financial flows continue to weaken the solid minerals sector through illegal mining, smuggling, tax evasion, corruption, and money laundering.
“The stark under According to the statement, performance is driven by illicit financial flows that continue to erode the sector’s potential by facilitating: Revenue leakages and tax evasion, Illegal mining and smuggling activities, corruption and weak institutional oversight, and money laundering linked to organised crimsaid.inal networks,” the statement said.
According to the agency, the mining sector contributed only N401bn in revenue and accounted for 0.72 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product despite the country’s enormous mineral resources.
NEITI explained that weak institutional coordination among regulatory agencies had further worsened the situation.
“Severe fragmentation of regulatory oversight across institutions, including the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the Mining Cadastre Office, NEITI, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and relevant state agencies. Each institution collects sector-relevant data in siloes, with limited interoperability and no integrated sector-wide digital monitoring system,” it said.
The organisation also expressed concern over the use of shell companies and opaque ownership structures within the mining sector, warning that such arrangements enable politically exposed persons, criminal actors and undisclosed foreign interests to conceal their involvement in mining operations.
“Mining licenses are frequently held through special purpose vehicles, shell companies, and layered corporate structures that obscure the natural persons who ultimately own or control extractive assets,” the statement added.
GIK/APA