The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has suggested that mineral resources in the country should be managed by their respective states.
The Governor made this known during the public hearing of the Senate committee on the review of the 1999 constitution on Wednesday.
Regarding the control of resources, El-Rufai said “mineral resources, including oil and gas and solid minerals,” should be managed by states, “which will, in turn, pay royalties and taxes to the Federation Account.’’
“States already control land within their territories, courtesy of the Land Use Act, which is incorporated into the Constitution by reference,” he added.
“One of the reasons why mining has not quite taken off in our country is because of the dichotomy and total disconnect between the federal institution that issues licenses for mining and the state agencies that ultimately control not only the land and title thereto but any approval to undertake any development on the land.”the Governor Said.
