The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) have advised Yobe State Government to establish selling points for solid minerals exploited in the state as a way of boosting the Internally Generated Revenue of the State.
The National Commissioner Barr. Yakubu Muri Tukur gave the advice during a courtesy call on Governor Ibrahim Gaidam at the Government House in Damaturu said the state can only get revenue of its royalties from the solid minerals only if it establishes selling points of such minerals or else it will lose it to states where those minerals are being sold.
Tukur also told Gaidam that his team was in the state to monitor royalties accruable to the state and equally scrutinises the activities of illegal miners.
In his response, Governor Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam called on the Federal Government to urgently review of the legal frame-work surrounding the mining sector to clearly define the roles of the states, local governments and communities blessed with solid mineral potentials.
Gaidam also advised the Federal Government to accelerate exploration and exploitation of the solid minerals in Yobe to enable it benefit from the 13% derivation accruable from the revenue from solid minerals in the state.
“The Federal Government should take decisive steps towards accelerated exploration and exploitation of Solid minerals that abound in the country and in particular states like our own. This will enable us benefit from the 13% derivation accruable from the revenue from solid minerals that we have been blessed with,” Gaidam said.
The Governor praised the foresight of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission for conceiving the idea of monitoring royalties’ collections and activities of miners at the state and local government levels said it will help in enhancing the revenue based of the solid mineral producing states in the country.
He added that as part of the effort to encourage investors in the mining sector in the state, his Government has formulated policies aimed at creating confidence through construction of infrastructural facilities for better result.
The Governor directed the secretary to the state Government to come up with a proposal for the establishment of a domesticated state mineral resources and Environmental Management Committee for effective the implementation of all important decisions in the sector.
The Nation checks revealed that Yobe State has a very robust solid mineral base ranging from Limestone, Gypsum, Trona, Kaolin, Clay, Diatomite, Iron Ore, and Silica Sand among others.
