Nigeria’s N700Million Mining Portal, Launched By Ex-Minister Fayemi, Is Inaccessible
Launched to streamline mining licence applications, mineral title processing, and royalty payments, the portal was intended to improve efficiency in the sector.
The Integrated Automation and Interactive GIS Web Portal, developed with N700 million by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in 2017, is currently inaccessible.
Launched to streamline mining licence applications, mineral title processing, and royalty payments, the portal was intended to improve efficiency in the sector.
At its launch in November 2017, Kayode Fayemi stated: “We have spent about N700 million to develop this Integrated Automation and Interactive GIS Web Portal to improve Ease-of-Doing-Business in the mining sector.”
FIJ reports the website’s blackout for three days while attempting to access mining licence information on Osun State.
The downtime contradicts the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) guidelines for government websites, which mandate uninterrupted availability.
Section 7.3.1 of the guidelines, according to a document obtained by FIJ, states: “Government websites MUST be accessible to the public in a fast and secure manner on a 24-hour basis and on all days of the week. It is important that the Web Hosting Service Provider (HSP) for a Government Institution be chosen with extreme caution and care.”
The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has since been rebranded as the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development under the Tinubu-led administration.
This could suggest a system upgrade or migration, but NITDA guidelines require public notification and contingency measures to prevent disruptions.
According to the NITDA guidelines, government agencies are required to provide advance notice to the public if a service is being migrated or discontinued. Additionally, they must put in place contingency measures to minimize disruptions. The guidelines also mandate that outdated portals and websites be either removed or archived, ensuring that the public retains access to relevant information when needed.
At press time, the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development had not issued any statement addressing the portal’s downtime.
The portal’s inaccessibility adds to ongoing concerns about government digital service management, where millions of naira have been invested with expectations of reliable service.
Nigeria’s N700Million Mining Portal, Launched By Ex-Minister Fayemi, Is Inaccessible
In July 2024, FIJ reported that 26 out of 36 state-owned websites failed to meet NITDA’s transparency and operational standards.
Other government digital services, including the police cybercrime page, the presidency’s page, and Nigeria’s information management database, have also faced issues.
The Presidency, through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), has previously highlighted these transparency gaps in a half-year report on MDAs.
In June 2024, Omoyele Sowore, the convener of #RevolutionNow, filed a defence statement in response to a libel suit brought by former Ekiti State governor, John Fayemi, against him and Sahara Reporters Limited.
The defence statement was filed at a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.
In a 47-paragraph defendants’ joint statement of defence in suit No: FCT/HC/CV 2062/2021 between Fayemi as Claimant and Mr. Omoyele Sowore (founder Chairman & Director Sahara Reporters Limited, Publishers of Sahara Reporters) and Sahara Reporters Limited as 1st and 2nd Defendants, Sowore told the court that the Claimant is a thief who has no reputation.
In the statement of defence, Sowore asked the court to dismiss the suit with substantial costs, arguing that Fayemi has no reputation to protect.
Sowore’s counsel, Tope Temokun Esq., submitted the statement on June 10, 2024, asserting that contrary to Fayemi’s claims of piety and incorruptibility, the people of Ekiti State and Nigeria have a different perception of him.
The defendants argued that Fayemi’s reputation had been tarnished, and that he had no grounds to claim libel.
The defendants pointed out that the claimant, John Olukayode Fayemi, was charged in January 2018 with financial impropriety offences in the High Court of Ekiti State (Charge No: HAD/5c/2018 – The State Vs. Dr. John Kayode Fayemi and Mr. Vincent Dapo Kolawole).
The charges included refusing to obey a witness summons, attempting to prevent or defeat the course of justice, criminal contempt, and abuse of office.
Additionally, the defendants alleged that Fayemi secured a N20 billion loan from a bank to build an international cargo airport in Ado Ekiti, despite rejecting an offer from Aare Afe Babalola to contribute to the project, claiming that the state had sufficient funds to complete the airport.
The defendants noted that the cargo airport in Ado-Ekiti, inaugurated on October 15, 2022, was not fully completed, despite claims by the claimant, Fayemi, that it was a world-class facility.
Fayemi had tweeted that the airport could accommodate large aircraft and had a terminal building capable of handling both local and international travelers.
They also noted that the Ekiti State Government disclosed in its 2023 budget presentation that over N16.5 billion had been spent on the airport’s construction, but the control tower, passenger terminal, and runway remained incomplete.
The defendants noted that on May 19, 2021, the claimant, Fayemi, launched the “Ekiti Rice Pyramid” in Ado Ekiti State, with former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, in attendance. The project was aimed to support three million rice farmers and enhance the country’s agricultural value chain.
However, the defendants argued that despite Fayemi’s assurances that the project would increase Ekiti State’s annual rice production from 34,700 to 15 million metric tonnes and create 12,000 jobs, the funds collected for the project were instead diverted during his tenure.
“Hence, Ekiti State did not join Kebbi, Ebonyi and other states that became rice producers through the Anchor Borrowers Programme,” the Defendants added.
“The claimant is hereby given notice to produce the account of the money received from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the ‘Ekiti Rice Pyramid,’” the Defendants noted.
