The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has said that the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Company will not be feasible anymore before the end of 2022 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
Adegbite made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the presentation of the achievement of his ministry during at the ninth edition of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd) regime Scorecard 2015 to 2023 series organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture.
In previous reports, Adegbite had also blamed the Russia/Ukraine war for the delay in the planned take-off of full operation of Ajaokuta Steel Company.
During his presentation of his ministry’s achievement, he noted that 11 companies were presently involved in the concession bid for Ajaokuta Steel Company.
The minister said that the Buhari government had been able to resolve all contending legal issues with the steel company and was in the process of concessioning it to a competent bidder.
He said that the major issue with the company was the concession that was done in 2005 by President Olusegun Obasanjo to Global Steel, which resulted in litigation and a demand of N7bn dollars by Global Steel.
“One of the major albatross on Ajaokuta was the concession that occurred under President Olusegun Obasanjo to Messers Global Steel Industries. Things went sour and they took us to court. The court case went on for about 12 years, but thanks to a patriotic Nigerian lawyer in the UK who handled the case very effectively.
“Global Steel came with a demand of $7bn but our lawyer was able to puncture holes in their case and at the end, they had to settle for $496m,’” he said.
He, however, said that the government was still committed to ensuring that the company was concessioned to a competent bidder with technical and financial capacities to optimise its potential.
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