Ministry of mines and steel debunks allegation of spending N700 million on website

macfranc007 November 13, 2017 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Jerrywright Ukwu

- The ministry of mines and steel development has denied the news making the rounds that they spent the sum of N700 million creating a website

- The ministry says the report was misrepresented and not factual

- The rebuttal says the sum was budgeted for an integrated IT infrastructure

The ministry of mines and steel development has denied the news making the rounds that they spent the sum of N700 million creating a website.

In an email sent to journalists on Sunday, November 12, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Mohammed Abbas, said the report is a misrepresentation of the actual facts on ground.

According to him, the N700 million was used to acquire an integrated IT infrastructure which comprises two data centres and an off-site recovery centre.

Ministry of mines and steel refutes allegation of spending N700 million on website

Minister of mines and steel development, Dr Kayode Fayemi. Source: Twitter

He stated that civil and environmental works on the centres and its running go on until the end of first quarter 2018, training of over 225 officials locally and internationally are also amongst other cost components of the entire infrastructure and programme.

“It is indeed disingenuous of anyone to reinvent and reduce all of these into an expenditure on a website,” Abbas lamented.

He informed that the infrastructure and other projects of the ministry form critical pillars of its agenda to reform the mining and minerals sector, particularly as a key step towards making significant contributions to Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria.

“In realising aspects of this project as a turnkey solution, we have been careful to follow all laid down processes.

“Since the cost of implementing the project is above ministerial limits, we sought and obtained the concurrence of the Federal Executive Council after a detailed presentation in January 2017.

“In the course of the project, we have emphasised the need for stakeholders’ interface, which included a facility inspection tour for reporters and journalists who cover the sector.

“We have no reason to commit public resources to projects that will not advance the cause of re-positioning our sector and we believe that we did everything to intimate the general public about our activities in this respect,” he said.

NAIJ.com gathered that the recent projects of the ministry is a robust attempt to ease how the regulatory-c*m-administration systems interface with mining operators and stakeholders everywhere.

Just last month, the Mining Journal’s World Risk Report, which rates different mining jurisdictions on a range of indicators including legal, governance social, fiscal and infrastructure indicated that Nigeria is showing notable improvements in positions.

“We continue to be open to checks and to present ourselves to public scrutiny.

“We want to assure all Nigerians that we do not take lightly the confidence reposed in us or in our government nor would we do anything to undermine our reputation under whatever guise.

“In superintending over this project, we are confident to declare that we have not let the ball down, therefore it is wantonly disingenuous for anyone to reinvent and reduce all of these into an expenditure on a website,” he concluded.

Speaking at the launch of the portal on Thursday, November 9, the minister of mines and steel development, Dr Kayode Fayemi said the portal was a cutting edge initiative that leveraged technology for the innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in the mineral sector governance.

The minister added that the objective of the project was to increase provision of reliable information and knowledge in order to enhance promotion of investments in the sector, using the technology-driven innovation and to increase the sector’s GDP.

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