Reps seek stronger reforms to tackle illegal mining, money laundering in extractive sector

By Gift ChapiOdekina, Abuja

ABUJA — The House of Representatives has intensified efforts to tackle illegal mining, insecurity and illicit financial flows in Nigeria’s extractive sector, warning that unchecked exploitation of mineral resources is depriving the country of huge revenues and threatening national security.

Chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Mineral Exploitation, Security and Anti-Money Laundering, Rep. Sanni Egidi Abdulraheem, gave the warning on Monday at a High-Level Stakeholders Workshop on Extractive Industry Governance in Abuja.

He said Nigeria’s rich deposits of gold, lithium, tin, coal, tantalite and other minerals had not translated into sustainable economic development due to illegal mining, weak enforcement and money laundering.

Abdulraheem said the committee was constituted to investigate the scale of illegal mineral exploitation, trace illicit financial flows linked to the sector, assess security challenges in mining communities and recommend legislative and administrative reforms.