The Senate chastised the Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, on Thursday for declining an invitation to testify before its Committee on Solid Minerals.
According to the Red Chamber, Alake’s relative inexperience has cast a shadow over the ministry’s yet-to-be-explored treasure.
The Senate, which ordered Alake to testify before its Committee on Solid Minerals on Wednesday, chastised him for not attending and threatened him with a zero allocation in the 2024 budget.
Alake will be briefing the Senate Committee on the federal government’s work plan to expand the industry and combat unlawful mining.
During its meeting, the committee passed the resolution and voiced its displeasure with the minister’s refusal to come before it.
The panel stated that Alake frequently made excuses for travelling with Tinubu and voiced worry that the minister had abandoned his core responsibility of bringing the mining industry to international renown.
The committee, which threatened the ministry with a zero allocation in the fiscal year 2024 if the Minister did not change his ways, encouraged him to begin responding to the committee’s invitations.
Senator Sampson Ekong, Chairman of the Committee, who issued the summons to the meeting, insisted that his panel would establish the correct legislative frameworks that would result in a favourable turnaround of the sector.
Ekong stated that the Committee’s watchwords will be accountability and openness.
He stated that the Bitumen bill given to the Committee will be handled quickly and presented to the Senate for passage before being delivered to the President for assent.
