–         Senate Spokesman, Adaramodu: We are not rubber stamp senators

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti 

The Senate Committee on Solid Minerals has pledged to provide legislative support aimed at protecting Chinese companies planning to invest $1 billion in the country’s solid minerals sector.

Representatives of the Chinese firms were at the National Assembly to secure the assurance of the federal lawmakers before investing their funds.

They planned to invest an initial $500 million in Zamfara, Kebbi and Nasarawa states and bring another $500m if they enjoyed a favourable outcome.

In another development, the Senator representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, Yemi Adaramodu, have said the current 9th Assembly members are not rubber stamp senators, contrary to views by some Nigerians.

Senator Adaramodu while speaking with journalists in his home town in Ilawe Ekiti said the senate is not a wrestling arena while senators will be fighting the executive, judiciary or other arms of the government while neglecting the constitutional roles they are supposed to carry out.

Meanwhile, the acting Chairman of the Committee, Senator Onawo Mohammed Ogoshi (SDP – Nasarawa South), gave the assurance during an interactive session between the panel and a Chinese delegation.

According to a statement by his media office on Sunday, Ogoshi assured the delegation that the Senate will provide enabling legislations to protect their investments in any part of the country.

He said: “The Nigerian Senate is supposed to give you all the necessary encouragement to come and bring this huge amount of money to our economy. 

“Our laws on solid minerals exploration are very robust. We intend to make it more robust by amending some of the laws that are obsolete, outdated and enact laws that will give your companies better protection in doing good business in Nigeria,” he said.

He appealed to the delegation to bring in more investors into Nigeria to do business.

Also speaking, a member of the committee, Senator Adamu Aliero said: “I join the chairman to commend you for coming to invest in our country. You have come at the right time when the country is venturing into diversifying her economy. 

“We had a mono-economy before now, where we depended heavily on oil for our foreign exchange earnings.

“However, the federal government has realized that we had no better choice than to look for other sectors of economy to earn revenue to finance our budget and solid minerals is one area where we have a lot of potentials.

“We will do all we can to facilitate your involvement in this sector. We will liaise with the Ministry of Solid Minerals at the national level to secure licenses and to give you permission to go and start mining. 

“We will also talk to the governors and the traditional institutions to ensure that you have free access to the areas where you are going to do your business and once that is done, I don’t think you will have any problem,” he said.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation comprising some solid minerals exploration firms from China, Mr. Chen Twan of Zong Hong Kotai Group said that the delegation is coming up with an initial $500million to invest in three states of Nigeria, comprising Zamfara, Kebbi and Nasarawa.

He noted that if they do well within the first one year of their exploration in the three states, they would extend their investments to other states that have solid minerals’ potentials.

Mr. Chen Twan said: “If we test the waters and see that it is good, we will attract more investors to Nigeria to invest in minerals deposits.

“As an international group, our company specializes in mining and bitumen. In the past few years, we have invested extensively globally, and on that strength, we have come to Nigeria to survey the possibility of investing in the mining and industrial park sectors in your country for the coming year.

“We also have another investment in Nigeria and we will make that known in the course of our stay in country.”

Also, a representative of Nigerian investors and Managing Director of El-Tahdam Exploration Limited, Mr. Adamu Tah, said: “Over time, we have been engaging them for the past two years. We have gone to their factories in China. 

“I have personally visited their factories for the past one year, I saw their processes and we know what they do and we trust them and we are a Nigerian based company.

“They are not coming to Nigeria on their own, they are coming based on the investigation they have done, the companies that we have and the licenses that we have acquired.

“So, they are coming to build on those licenses and that is why when they came, we had to introduce them to our fathers so that they will have full confidence of investing in Nigeria knowing that we are a true company doing the right thing and following the laws of the country.”

He said the support of the Senate has given them the courage to invest the huge amount of money in the nation’s solid minerals’ sector.

“With Senate’s support, they still want to invest more money into this venture and if that is good, they intend to invest another $1Billion into the solid minerals sector when this first phase of the investment scales through,” he said.

On his part, Senator Yemi Adaramodu declared that the hallowed chamber is strictly for parliamentary business whilst it’s saddled with the responsibility to make laws, appropriate bills while the executive and the judiciary executes and interprets accordingly.

Adaramodu who is the Senate spokesperson said the Senate is focused and will not be distracted with cheap blackmail but instead focus on issues that will bring development into the country.

His words: “If the executive brings a bill for minimum wage, won’t we treat it? If it is appropriation bill, won’t it be looked into? If it is a bill concerning the construction of road, should we throw it away?

“The problem is that everybody in Nigeria wants to make laws that suits them and when they hear about any bill, instead of them to calm down and go through it properly, the first thing such people will do is to accuse the Senate of being a rubber stamp of the executive which is not true.”

Senator Adaramodu while urging Nigerians to always get the facts of bills and issues before calling the Senate names, especially on the state of emergency declared in Rivers State. 

He accused Governor Sim Fubara and the Rivers State Assembly members whom he claimed put the affairs of the state into chaos and anarchy and that in the absence of a functional government, the house after forming a quorum of 74 out of 109 all answered ‘hi’ when it was tabled for votes.

Senator Adramodu explained that the Senate has no reason to formulate or support anti people policies as many people have erroneously believed especially on the tax reform bill.

In his words: “The tax reform bills was antagonized by very many people, to them the Senate is bent on making lives difficult for the masses but now how many of them are still complaining about the tax reform bills now? “

He explained that the tax reform bill are game changers that will redefine and environment significantly. When enacted, the bills will address inequality and injustice that characterise our tax system.”

He concluded that Value Added Tax will no longer be placed on exports and essential consumptions by the masses.

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