A civil society group, Zamfara Professionals League has applauded the re-appointment of Hajiya Fatimah Shinkafi as the Executive Secretary of Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The group in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday said the President’s action has further confirmed his resolve to put the young financial institution on solid foundation.
Presidential Media aide, Mr. Bayo Onanuga last week in a statement announced that the President has approved the renewal of the appointment of Shinkafi as the executive secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund/Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Initiative (SMDF/PAGMI).
Reacting to the re-appointment, the League President, Yunana Shibkau in the statement noted that Shinkafi has proven that professionals of Northern origin could perform excellently in financial sector by building fragile financial institutions such as the SMDF into solid intervention platforms to solve pertinent national challenges.
Shibkau recalled the initiative of SMDF to partner with the Africa Finance Corporation, AFC to provide funding for early stage mineral development projects such as exploration funding.
The project, which attracted 94 applicants in the first year, recorded 14 hopefuls currently in the second stage of competing for the funds.
The League also narrated SMDF’s intervention in projects across the country on a bid to bridge the gap left by the absence of junior miners.
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Commending the President, the League maintained the re-appointing Shinkafi would enable SMDF execute new projects such as the gold aggregator scheme which has yielded billions of naira worth of gold reserves to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Reacting to allegations of tenure limitation by a newspaper, the League said the provisions of sections 34. 35 and 36 of the Nigerian Mining and Minerals Act do not set a limit on the tenure of the Executive Secretary , adding that the President acted in accordance with the law.
“It is our position that, considering the fragile and pioneering status of the SMDF, it will be suicidal to hand over to a novice who lacks the institutional memory that has enabled the SMDF to grow its teething years.
“That will disrupt the trail blazing initiatives of the current t administration and cause it to lose focus from its efforts to build a financial intervention agency that must ensure returns on investment.”