The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has revealed the implementation of the new solid mineral data rendition templates for effective revenue monitoring.
Dr Mohammed Shehu, Chairman of RMAFC made this known while delivering his remark on Tuesday in Abuja, at a one-day workshop on sensitisation exercise on the new solid mineral data rendition templates.
Shehu, who was represented by Mr Ibrahim Shettima, Commissioner and Chairman, solid Mineral Monitoring Committee of the RMAFC, said that the effort was for effective revenue monitoring.
He said that the new data rendition templates were designed to capture and manage relevant data with regards to specific measurement of quantity of minerals produced by the producing companies.
He said that the new data rendition templates were also designed to capture their locations, particular licenses, fees and permits paid by mining companies.
“These data we believe, if properly managed and utilised, will go a long way in ensuring that mining operations and revenue are more effectively tracked and accounted for.
“The RMAFC is here today, with its partners in the mining sector, to unveil the implementation of the new data rendition templates.
“We are also developing the necessary synergy required to boost mining operations and resultant revenues accruable,” he said.
The chairman said that the programme would also hold at the zonal levels, by replicating same at the six geopolitical zones of the country.
He said that the programme would be engaging in critical discussions geared towards harnessing the full potential of mining revenues nationwide.
“The implementation of the new data rendition templates could not have come at a better time, given the current economic difficulties the country is experiencing at the moment.
“The need to diversify the nation’s revenue sources can not be overemphasised, primarily because of the perpetual over dependence on hydro carbon sources of revenue,” he said.
According to him, dependence on hydro carbon sources of revenue is often plagued by the vagaries of the international oil market.
“That is why the present administration of President Bola Tinubu placed the harnessing of revenue potentials from sectors like solid minerals, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and blue economy at the front-burner,’’ he said
Shehu said that in spite of the extent of activities going on in the mining sector, it contributed only a negligible amount to the Federation Account.
According to him, this is largely due to lack of proper and effective monitoring of mining activities.
The chairman said that it was the intention of the RMAFC to work assiduously to ensure that all revenues from the mining sector were promptly remitted into the federation’s distributable pool account.
He said that to achieve it`s mandate within the mining space, the commission had in the last decade, conducted two nationwide solid mineral revenue monitoring exercises; in 2016 (Phase I) and 2022 (Phase II).
He said that the intention was to push upwards, revenue generated from the country’s mining sector.
He thanked the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD), the Director-General of the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) and other relevant stakeholders, whose collaborative efforts made the workshop a reality.
Speaking, Shettima said that the exercise was aimed at ensuring the existence of a platform for an independent data source for the commission which would be free of discrepancies.
He said that the platform could be used for comparison and as advanced information for attribution purposes.
“It is, therefore, imperative to address perceived discrepancies in the figures submitted by state governments and the ministry as revenue from the solid mineral sector into the federation account.
“These can be addressed through the use of a uniform solid minerals data rendition template which will specify the scale of measurement used to report quantity of actual location of production asides state.” (NAN)