Group Wants Presidency To Take Over Ajaokuta Steel Company From Ministry

With the growing national and international concerns over the delay in the resuscitation of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) to full capacity utilisation, a group of Civil Society Organisation, NGO Network working under the auspices of CSO Coalition for the Revival of Ajaokuta Steel, have advised the federal government to consider moving the Steel Company from the current stable of the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel to any of the organs under the Presidency.

In a letter dated July 27 and addressed to the minister of Science and Technology and copied to the President, the Chief of Staff to the President, Secretary to the Federal Government of the Federation (SGF) and the minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, as well as the Supervising Ministry, the NGO Network advised the administration that for the steel company to meet the vision of the present administration and for effective administration of the stable, there’s urgent need to move ASLC to the Presidency.

The letter which was signed by the project director Mr Mohammed Bougei Attah made reference to the June 11, 2020 letter sent to the chairman, Ajaokuta Presidential Project Implementation Team (APPIT) which is yet to see the light one year after.

The statement read in parts ‘’Our organisation, NGO Network, having engaged with the process in the past is very much aware of the myriad of challenges hindering the full implementation of the APPIT, and have therefore proposed the following two critical approaches in finding quick solutions to the stagnation and bottlenecks.”

Title Presidential Executive Order No.5 of 2018, the letter drew the attention of the minister to the important role the Order can play in ensuring the Ajaokuta Steel Company is completed without further delay.

In particular, the letter stated that ‘’The directives of the Executive Order 5 under ‘’Commencement’’- i to vii are quite clear and we believe the intention of the FGN under this administration is to achieve the nation’s development goals and industrialisation, particularly in Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy, STISA 2024 to 2030.’’

The letter further reminded the government about the promise of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari which is to make Nigeria economically viable through industrial revolution.

“It is therefore inevitable and a strong belief that the revival of ASCL to full capacity utilisation is the first and major step in that direction,” the group said.