Governor Wike Sends Powerful Message to FG, Calls for State Control of Minerals
- Governor Wike has advised the federal government to allow states to be in charge of their mineral resources
- The Rivers governor condemned the country's overemphasis on oil while paying little or no attention to other minerals
- According to him, the FG needs to pay more attention to making policies that would bring about an improvement in the governance of the mining sector
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Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers state, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to grant states the opportunity to develop and operate their respective minerals and pay a royalty to the central government.
The Punch reports that Wike made the call when the minister of state for mines and steel development, Uchechukwu Ogah, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
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Legit.ng gathered that he said the call is important because the federal government which unilaterally controls the country’s rich mineral endowment has failed to translate the mineral wealth into overall economic development.
Nigerian Tribune also reports that the governor maintained that the federal government should concentrate on the formulation of policies that would facilitate an improvement in the governance of the mining sector to improve the social welfare of the citizens.
Wike added that minerals play a great role in terms of raising revenue for any country, saying that the country's overemphasis on oil has reduced the impact on other minerals.
Governor, however, said the federal government has failed to actualise the country’s aspiration to become a major player in the global steel industry.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Wike said anybody jostling to be president in 2023 would need to secure votes in Rivers and combine with either Kano or Lagos to emerge victorious.
It was reported that he said such a pivotal position established the importance of Rivers in the political scheme of the country, adding that nobody would be allowed to undermine it.
In a related report, Wike said that no individual can unilaterally decide who would succeed him and where the governorship ticket would be zoned to in 2023.
He said stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state will meet at the appropriate time and decide his successor.
Wike spoke on Saturday, April 10, during the grand finale of the PDP local government campaign for the April 17, 2021 election in the state.
Source: Legit.ng
