The National Assembly and the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development yesterday urged the Federal Government to designate the ministry’s budget as a first-line charge to ensure timely and guaranteed releases.
According to them, inconsistent disbursements, particularly the absence of capital funding, are stalling efforts to reposition the mining sector as a central pillar of economic diversification.
They made the call when the Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake appeared before the Joint National Assembly Committee on Solid Minerals Development to present the ministry’s 2024 and 2025 budget performances and defend its 2026 budget proposal.
The ministry’s 2026 budget proposal stands at N165.34 billion, with N1.79 billion for personnel, N1.57 billion for overhead, and N45.54 billion for capital expenditure.
Alake described the proposal as a “strategic pivot from planning and potential to execution, production and revenue generation”. However, he lamented that implementation challenges, including zero capital funding, had stifled the ministry’s ambitions.
