N’Assembly Moves To Grant First-Line Charge Status To Solid Minerals Ministry

The National Assembly on Monday moved to grant the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development first-line charge status after it emerged that capital releases to the sector for 2025 stood at zero, a development lawmakers described as a major setback to Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda.

At a budget defence session in Abuja, members of the Joint National Assembly Committee on Solid Minerals Development expressed alarm that despite huge appropriations, the ministry received no capital disbursement in 2025, with only 50 per cent of its overhead allocation released as of January 31, 2026.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake, told lawmakers that the zero release of N865.06 billion earmarked for capital expenditure in the 2025 fiscal year had stalled critical infrastructure, exploration and sector development projects.

He warned that without guaranteed funding through first-line charge status, where statutory allocations are automatically released from the Federation Account, like priority sectors, the solid minerals sector would remain hamstrung by Treasury delays and shortfalls.

Alake said, “This is the most critical issue because inconsistent releases were undermining efforts to reposition mining as a key driver of economic growth, job creation and foreign investment.”

Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Ekong Sampson, described the zero capital release as, “worrisome” and fundamentally at odds with the ambitious projections embedded in the national budget, querying“How do you drive the harvest of the sector’s full potential with zero per cent release?”

He noted that previous interventions, including a N1 trillion allocation to the sector, had raised expectations within the industry and among investors, but warned that without actual cash backing, “the budget framework is rendered quite unattractive.”

Other lawmakers echoed the call for urgent reform of the funding structure, arguing that solid minerals, like the petroleum sector, should enjoy first-line charge protection.

Responding, Alake welcomed the proposal, describing it as “sweet music” and urging the National Assembly to provide legislative backing to make the arrangement feasible.

“If you legislate on it, it becomes doable. Then we will put on our executive machinery to ensure delivery,” he said.