N200b project: Alake denies alleged corruption scandal 

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has denied the allegation by a blogger, Echezonam Ibezim, suggesting he did not submit a N200 billion budget for an existing project.

Alake also described the allegations as baseless and defamatory and called for responsible journalism.

Special Adviser to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kehinde Bamigbetan, who spoke on behalf of his principal, said the solid minerals sector relies heavily on scientific data on the nature and occurrence of rocks underground to determine reserves of commercial quantity that investors can use to make decisions on business ventures.

He said according to Standard & Poor’s survey on exploration budgets of countries in Africa, Nigeria spent the least, only $2.5 million on exploration in 2023 compared to Ivory Coast’s $147 million. The figures for a few other countries are DR Congo, $133 million, South Africa, $117 million, Ghana, $99.7 million, and Mali. $83 million.

A statement issued reads in part: “With Nigeria’s land space of 923,768 square kilometres, more than 12 times the size of Sierra Leone, the cost of a similar Airborne Survey will exceed the N200 billion budget proposed – which is not even available!

“The minister’s budget proposal, tagged NIMEP 2, was conceived by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency to explore identified mineralised corridors, gather more data on government-owned licences, explore targeting methods for specific minerals and develop local exploration expertise.

“There must be something wrong with a writer flinging ill-digested and ill-informed trash into the public space to raise false alarms. It comes from the permanent political campaign mindset that keeps the election loser on the field after the match has ended.”