The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, has warned governors against banning mining activities within their states.
Alake insisted that no governor possesses the rightful authority to interfere with mining operations in any state in the country.
The minister made these remarks during a pre-event press conference in Abuja for the 8th edition of the annual Nigerian Mining Week 2023 scheduled from the 16th to 18th of October.
According him, “for a State to wake up and say it is regulating mining activities is like a state waking up to ban oil exploration which is downright illegal”.
Alake emphasized that mining is exclusively within the Federal Government’s domain as stipulated by the Constitution, noting that no governor is constitutionally empowered to enact laws, regulations, or oversee operations concerning solid minerals resources.
He said: “The states’ ban on mining activities across the country is a point that is really sore. And it’s a constitutional matter.
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“I want to use this opportunity to get to the entire Nigerian public that no state, and I repeat, no state, has the authority to interfere in mining operations. No state has the authority and it is not it’s a no-brainer. It’s a constitutional matter.
“Mining belongs exclusively in the purview of the Federal Government, according to the Constitution. It is in the exclusive legislative list. It is not in the residual. It is not in the concurrent. It’s in the exclusive legislative list. Every item on the exclusive legislative list belongs to the Federal Government.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, on Thursday inaugurated a 1,500-capacity stadium built by the owner of Olukismet FC, Olumide Adegboye, in Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Alake said the first private stadium in the state would breed talents, encourage youths participation in football, foster youth empowerment and skill development, as well as reduce the level of unemployment in the state.
The minister, who reiterated President Bola Tinubu administration’s commitment to sports development, said the Federal Government had put in place insightful policies in encouraging youths participation in sporting activities.
He assured that government would support Olukismet’s initiatives to groom young people to channel their energy towards sporting activities as this would help check delinquent tendencies.
