ASMs Contribute Negligible Amount To Govt – RMAFC

By Georgina Humphrey

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has lamented that Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners, ASMs, contribute negligible amount to the country’s account due to its informal operation mode.

Chairman of the Commission, Mohammed Bello Shehu made this known at a Policy Dialogue meeting with the senate and house of representatives committees on solid minerals and stakeholders in the sector in Abuja.

He stressed that government is working tirelessly to ensure that the ASMs are formalised into cooperatives and consequently captured into the tax net.

“Despite robust activities of the ASMs, the subsector contributes negligible amount to the Federation Account due to the informal nature of operations, hence, organisations such as the UNDP, EU, along with Government are assiduously working to ensure that the ASMs are formalised into cooperatives and consequently captured into the tax net” Shehu added.

On his part the Chairman Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, Senator Ekong Samson said diversification of the nation’s economy must start from the sector to revamp the country’s GDP earnings.

Senator Samson stressed that the nation cannot continue to depend on a mono economy hence the need for diversification for the nation’s growth.

Senator Samson explained that the time has come for the nation to explore the abundance mineral resources laying fallow under the nation’s soils.

Also, the chairman House of Representatives committee on solid minerals, Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi emphasized that the mining policy would help in sanitizing the sector for the benefit of Nigerians.

In her presentation, Acting Director Planning Research and Statistics RMAFC, Dr Rosetta Adiotomre Iyere said the policy would help in developing a frame work for solid minerals development to increase revenue to the Federal, States and Local Governments.

In his welcome address chairman, Research and Development (R&D) committee of the Commission, Chief Tokunbo Ajasin said the commission has formalised one hundred and twenty Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners, ASMs, into six cooperative societies.

He added that the commission is currently working to register the Cooperatives with the Zonal Mines Office in Plateau State.

Edited By Grace Namiji