The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, has disclosed that the Federal Government has concluded arrangement to make final $50 million payment next month to finalize the concession of the $496 million Ajaokuta Steel Company.
The minister, in a statement apparently issued to debunk comments recently made by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, said that the Obasanjo administration, in which Atiku served as a Vice Predient, had agreed to a concession agreement with Global Steel Industry in 2004 but failed to fulfill its part of the deal, following which the Buhari administration agreed to the $496 million settlement.
He pointed out that the PDP candidate’s promise to get Ajaokuta working was a failed promise.
He stated: “A little bit of background will show that the former Vice President was deceiving Nigerians when he made that promise. Ajaokuta was concessioned to Global Steel Industry in 2004 by the administration of then President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Who was in charge of that Administration’s privatization program? Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. That concession that turned out to be a mess was terminated by another PDP administration. If the former Vice President had any solution to the Ajaokuta challenge, and he didn’t execute it in 2004, why should Nigerians trust him to do so in 2023, almost 20 years later?”, Mohammed queried.
The minister further recalled that following the failure of the Obasanjo administration to honour Nigeria’s part of the deal, Global Steel Industry took Nigeria to court, asking for $7 billion and the case lingered for 12 years, which was later settled by the present administration and both parties agreed for $496 million on the concession of the plant.
Making clarification on the total amount paid by the Nigerian government on the deal so far, the minister said: “To date, we have paid a total of 446 million dollars out of the 496 million dollars. We will make the last payment of 50 million dollars 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 vice president.”
Mohammed disclosed that the present administration had opened talks with some companies over a concession deal, adding that once the final $50 million is paid, the companies have expressed their interest to invest in the steel complex.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had last month assured that reviving the Ajaokuta steel complex through a concession by his administration would immensely benefit the country, stressing that no other project in Nigeria holds the key to unlocking the nation’s vast steel potential as much as the steel plant.
