The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake is fighting to clear his name following allegation that he has budgeted N200b for a project executed by the previous government of Muhammadu Buhari......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
The allegation came to the fore during the one year scorecards being reeled out by ministers in the government of Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu was inaugurated president on May 29, 2023, and his ministers were sworn in in August.
To commemorate one year in office, all the ministers have been touting their performances in office between apologising for the hardships and sermonising that the future is bright.
When it was the turn of Alake a few days ago, he intimated that a whopping N200b would be spent to build a National GeoData Centre for the mining sector. Alake, used to hyperbole, called it ‘big data’.
Soon, his ministry was taken for scrutiny. The examination showed that what Alake called ‘big data’ had been built in 2022 by the government of Buhari.
A visit to the website of the National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA) confirmed then president, Buhari launched the National GeoData Centre to collect and preserve geoscientific data and information on Nigeria, making them available for the long-term to a wide range of users and communities.
It targets the mining, geoscientists, local and international investors, academics and researchers by making data readily available.
Following the discovery, Alake was accused of budgeting the huge sum for a project already in existence.
But in a swift reaction via a statement he personally sent to
THE WHISTLER late Saturday night when confronted with the allegation, Alake described those accusing him of corruption as “ignoramus all.”