The Federal Government has received plaudits from a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) for its recent efforts to revive the paralysed Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) by forgiving the debt owing a foreign company for the previous 20 years.
The Federal Government’s ability to reduce the debt from $5.28 billion to $496 million, or 91 percent of the mediation claims, was hailed by the coalition as inspiring.
The coalition noted that the negotiation resolved the long-running contractual dispute in a statement co-signed by its national coordinator, Mohammed Attah, Chris Azor of the International Peace and Civic Responsibility Centre, and Ayo Adebusoye, the executive director of the Nigeria Network of Non Governmental Organizations (NNNGOs).
FG TO SELL AJAOKUTA, OTHERS FOR 2018 BUDGET
While contending that the negotiation with the foreign investors constitutes the last process in the efforts to bring back ASCL to, the coalition said “it is also a relief” to win back the National Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Itakpe that was hitherto under concession to the foreign interest.
The group assured that as a CSO representing the interest of the Nigerian public, it would continue to play the role of independent monitor “to ensure the task of completing the revival process is done with utmost sincerity, diligence and patriotic zeal” to accelerate Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda.
Part of the statement reads: “We, therefore, commend President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping to his promise of ensuring the steel company is back to full operations before the end of his administration. All these would not have been possible without the political will from the President supported by his ministers and the administrators of ASCL and NIOMCO.
“With the settlement coming into effect in August this year, we are convinced that this is a milestone to getting the steel plant back to life for the good and development of the country. We are further convinced that the industrialisation agenda of the Buhari administration is on course.”
On November 25, 2021, at the National Conference on Ajaokuta Steel Company, organised by the coalition, CSOs had urged the Federal Government to consider it a patriotic gesture by putting the Ajaokuta phenomenon to rest through this process of arbitration, which has held backward the revival process over the years.
The CSOs, therefore, echoed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in acknowledging that Buhari “has succeeded in rescuing the steel industry from interminable and complex disputes as well as saving the taxpayer from humongous damages.”
Follow us on Facebook
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.