The House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals has urged increased funding for the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO), citing its impressive revenue growth.
The call was made when the Committee on Solid Minerals visited the Agency for an oversight function in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital.
The Chairman of the Committee, Jonathan Gbefwi expressed concern that NMCO, which generated over N8 billion between 2023 and October 2024, received only N1 billion in allocation.
Mr. Gbefwi stressed that with the increased revenue performance seen on the part of the MCO, the Agency would do much more with improved funding, more operation-friendly environment, and incentivised staff.
“And one issue that is of great concern to us, for an Agency so critical in this Ecosystem to be getting an appropriation of 1 billion, and you are raising, as of October, over 8 billion, to me, is an aberration, and it is something that must be checked.
“I believe if better equipment are procured, with more training and with better supervision of even the mining licensing, you should be able to make much more than this. You don’t have to wait and just advertise for annual returns. You should equally be able to be proactive.
“But what is of utmost importance to me is the fact that when you have an Agency that is in charge of such a sensitive issue and your staff are not well incentivised, it will bring about sharp practices within the ranks and files of your staff whereby you may have people getting licenses without even obtaining consent from anywhere. Your appropriation is too low, but you need more funds to do more and to be proactive“. The House Committee Chairman explained.
Office in All States
The lawmakers also advocated the importance of MCO to improve its performance, by having an office with one or two representatives in every State of the federation instead of having an office in each of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
Responding to the Committee, Director General of NMCO, Obadiah Nkom, appealed to them to look into regulations that would enable the agency retain at least a minute part of the revenue it generates to address some of the critical challenges being faced.
“From inception to date, the MCO has not been able to retain one kobo out of what it generates for its operations. But the most important thing for us and on which we are focused has been to overcome our challenges and move forward baring all challenges,” Nkom said.
Revenue Generation
On the revenues generated by the Agency, “We recently had a review of fees, as approved by the Minister, and after that, the revenue increased, and that’s why you see that the revenue generated from January to October 2024 grew to over N8 billion, surpassing the one for the entire 2023,” DG stated.
The DG attributed the agency’s success on the principles of transparency and accountability which it upholds the agency works hand-in-hand with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) .
Nkom stated that, the issue of consent in the licensing process has generated numerous complaints, and the agency was aware that poorly managed consent could lead to serious conflicts.
“Instances of overlapping licenses have already sparked tensions in some regions, and if left unchecked, this could escalate into law and order breakdowns. We must ensure that consent protocols are not only clear but are rigorously enforced to avoid these overlaps,” he explained.
Nkom updated lawmakers on the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office’s reforms, highlighting its transition from the polygon system to the Cadastre system.
This transformation has enabled the Agency to migrate to the electronic Mining Cadastre System (eMC+), allowing global applicants to conveniently apply for licenses and track their applications in real time.
Confidence Okwuchi
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