Ayom Urges Tinubu to Activate Nigeria-China $1.2bn Mining Equipment Investment Deal
· Says Nigeria may lose N500bn if pact collapses
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Former Presidential Aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Moses Ayom, has called on President Bola Tinubu, to urgently activate the $1.2 billion mining equipment investment deal signed between Nigeria and China in 2016.
Ayom, in a statement yesterday, said he played vital roles in Nigeria’s partnership with China including being part of the 2016 Presidential delegation to China.
He noted that the activation of the 2016 Mining Pact, would further boost the advantages of the current partnership between Nigeria and China.
He observed that the delay in activating that deal portends a serious economic danger capable of attracting N500 billion loss to the economy, according to the audit conducted by Certified Accountants.
Ayom, who was the first All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Aspirant to withdraw from the race for Tinubu, was however full of praises for efforts so far made by Tinubu to revive Nigeria’s ailing economy.
He advised that it had become imperative for Nigeria to activate the existing MOU with China to show her that the West African country was always committed to honouring her international deals, particularly with China.
The mining equipment investment deal has the potential of reinvigorating Nigeria’s economy, particularly in terms of employment to her teeming youths.
Providing further explanations on the details and origin of the deal, Ayom revealed that the issue was the delay and failure in activating the $1.2 billion mining equipment deal.
The MoU was signed by Granite and Marble for the establishment of a mining equipment firm in Abuja.
It was part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chinese government in 2016.
The mining equipment deal was signed same day the $6 billion currency swap deal was signed between Nigeria and China in addition to the $2.5 billion deal.
He further disclosed that “all these were sealed in 2016 in China when he had the privilege of being in the President’s entourage on a business trip along with former minister of trade and Industry, Mr. Okechukwu Enelamah, who doubled as a witness for the federal government.”
He commended Tinubu’s initiative to improve Nigeria’s economic partnership with the Peoples Republic of China.
The politician in a statement yesterday, said the MoU signed on Tuesday in Beijing on the peaceful use of Nuclear Energy and several other agreements aimed at elevating the existing relationship between the two countries has opened a positive chapter in Nigeria’s economy.
Tinubu and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing ceremony in Beijing where they made a strong commitment to advance economic growth and development in the two nations.
