The federal government has taken a swipe at the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for promising to resolve all the challenges that have stalled the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State.
Atiku, who served as former Vice President of Nigeria, had promised that if voted into office, his government will resolve the problems facing the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
But, addressing a press briefing in Abuja at the 19th Edition of the ”PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023)” on Thursday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Atiku was part of the problem that has stifled the development of Ajaokuta Steel Company, which the Buhari administration has virtually resolved.
The Minister said the PDP presidential candidate’s campaign on Ajaokuta plant was, therefore, deceitful and borne out of desperation for power.
“This is a deceitful statement borne out of desperation for power. 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 regime of then President Olusegun Obasanjo. Who was in charge of that Administration’s privatization programme? Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. That concession that turned out to be a mess was terminated by another PDP Administration,” he said.
Following the failed concession, Alhaji Mohammed said the concessionaire, Global Steel Industry, took Nigeria to court, asking for $7 billion, and that case lingered for 12 years until the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari stepped in and the company finally settled for $496 million.
He said out of the amount, the current administration made a bulk payment of $250 million and agreed to pay the balance in five instalments.
To date, he said the federal government has paid a total of $446 million out of the $496 million.
“We will make the last payment of $50 million 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 VP.
He further explained that the federal government was currently in talks with investors.
According to him, “Now, we are talking to investors who are ready to bring their money into Ajaokuta to make sure it works. The Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel Development, who was here last month, assured that before this Administration leaves office, Ajaokuta will be concessioned in what he called equitable terms.
“What I am saying in essence is that the problems facing Ajaokuta was the poorly-thought-out and poorly-executed concession by the regime in which Alhaji Atiku was Vice President, and a regime under which he presided over the failed privatization programme.”
He stressed that 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?
Consequently, he said the former VP was not even aware of the current status of Ajaokuta Steel Company, the settlement reached with the concessionaire and the payments made.
“Without this information, how does he want to revive the steel company?
“Nigerians should beware of snake oil salesmen, who engage in deceit just to swindle them,” he said.
He said the solution to Ajaokuta does not lie in the hands of the same people who scuttled the development of the country’s steel industry through a questionable concession.
“Nigerians beware! Don’t allow yourselves to be conned twice,” the Minister added.
