The Minister of Solid Minerals and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, yesterday revealed that the Federal Government had spent over $10 billion on the Ajaokuta Steel Company since its establishment in 1971.
Fayemi made the revelation at the budget defence of the Senate joint Committee on Power and Solid Minerals and Steel Development. He regretted that in spite of the huge funds that had gone into the establishment, the giant project had not been able to provide the technological and other needs of the country.
He pointed out that there was need for the present government to sit back and take a critical study of the Ajaokuta Steel industry, with a view to proffering solution to the seeming intractable problem of the plant, so as to make it viable and productive for the socioeconomic needs of the country.
The Minister lamented that the present condition of the plant was critical in such a way that any money invested in it in an attempt to revive it would amount to throwing a huge treasure into a bottomless pit.
He said that the N9 billion earmarked for solid minerals was deliberate, in line with the determination of government to fully study the sector within one year before investing heavily to a point where it could actually be used to diversify the economy.
Also, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, noted that members of the National Assembly lacked the powers to stop the leadership of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) from reviewing electricity tariffs in the country.
Fashola, who addressed National Assembly correspondents after his budget defence, said that NERC was constitutionally empowered to set new electricity tariffs for consumers in the country, saying that the relevant laws backing NERC were passed by the National Assembly.
http://newtelegraphonline.com/fg-spent-10-bn-ajaokuta-fayemi/
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