The Federal Government has said that its will complete the payment of Ajaokuta concession which will revert the steel company to Buhari’s Administration after 20 years failed concession of the previous Administration.
Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this at the 19th Edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023) in Abuja on Thursday.
The Minister, reacting to the former Vice President and the People’s Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar’s statement during his campaign in Kogi few weeks ago, where Atiku said if voted into office, his govt will resolve problems facing the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Alhaji Mohammed said such statement is deceitful and borne out of desperation for power, adding that a little bit of background will show that the former Vice President was deceiving Nigerians when he made that promise.
He recalled how Ajaokuta was concessioned to Global Steel Industry in 2004 by the regime of then President Olusegun Obasanjo, asking who was in charge of that Administration’s privatization programme then? “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar”.
The Minister explained further that the concession turned out to be a mess and was terminated by another PDP Administration.
According to him, “Following the failed concession, concessionaire, Global Steel Industry, took Nigeria to court, asking for $7 billion, and that case lingered for 12 years until the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari stepped in and the company finally settled for $496 million”, he said.
Alhaji Mohammed joyfully revealed that out of the amount, Buhari’s Administration made a bulk payment of $250 million and agreed to pay the balance in five instalments. “To date, we have paid a total of $446 million out of the $496 million.
“We will make the last payment of $50 million next month and Ajaokuta will revert fully to us -ending the shameful and failed concession by the Administration in which Alhaji Atiku Abubakar served as the VP,” the Minister slammed PDP.
He further said Federal Government is now talking to investors who are ready to bring their money into Ajaokuta to make sure it works.
“The Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel Development, who was here last month, assured that before this Administration leaves office, Ajaokuta will be concessioned in what he called equitable terms”, Alhaji Mohammed added.
The Minister emphasized that the problems facing Ajaokuta was the poorly-thought-out and poorly- executed concession by the regime in which Alhaji Atiku was Vice President, and a regime under which he presided over the failed privatization programme.
He Knocked the PDP Presidential candidate that If the former Vice President had any solution to Ajaokuta challenge, and he didn’t execute it in 2004, why should Nigerians trust him to do so in 2023, almost 20 years later?.
“Apparently, the former VP is not even aware of the current status of Ajaokuta, the settlement reached with the concessionaire and the payments made. Without this information, how does he want to revive the steel company?”
He urged Nigerians to beware of snake oil salesmen, who engage in deceit just to swindle them, pointing out that solution to Ajaokuta does not lie in the hands of the same people who scuttled the development of the country’s steel industry through a questionable concession.
“Nigerians beware! Don’t allow yourselves to be conned twice”, Alhaji Lai Mohammed warned.
