Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Wednesday walked out of a meeting of the Senate Committee on Mines and Steel Development after a verbal exchange with the committee’s chairman, Patrick Ndubueze, who represents Imo North Senatorial District.
The disagreement centred on the challenges facing the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company. The company is located in her senatorial district.
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The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, had appeared before the committee to present his ministry’s budget proposal. However, disagreement occurred towards the end of the meeting, which lasted over three hours, when Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan attempted to ask questions regarding the state of Ajaokuta Steel Company.
As she began to speak, Mr Ndubueze informed her that the committee had concluded its budget scrutiny with the minister and advised her to reserve her questions for another appearance.
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Apparently displeased, the Kogi senator insisted on asking her question regardless of whether she had been formally recognised to speak.
In response, Mr Ndubueze said Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan had already asked several questions earlier in the session and cautioned her to respect parliamentary procedures by adhering to the chairman’s ruling.
Despite the caution, she insisted on speaking. Amid the exchange, the chairman struck the gavel, signalling the end of the meeting, and directed the minister and his entourage to exit the room.
Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan was visibly upset about the ruling. She subsequently walked out of the committee meeting.
Ajaokuta Steel
The Ajaokuta Steel Company, located in Kogi State, was conceived in the late 1970s as the cornerstone of Nigeria’s industrialisation drive.
The project was envisioned to stimulate upstream and downstream industries, create thousands of jobs, and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported steel products.
Despite billions of dollars invested over several decades, the plant remains largely non-operational. The project has suffered from policy inconsistencies, contractual disputes, political interference, corruption allegations, and inadequate funding.
Efforts to concession the plant to private operators in the early 2000s resulted in protracted legal disputes, further delaying its revival. In 2016, the federal government began moves to resolve arbitration issues with Global Steel Holdings Limited, culminating in a 2022 settlement that restored full control of the facility to Nigeria.
Successive administrations have repeatedly pledged to revive Ajaokuta, describing it as critical to diversifying Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy. The government has also linked its revival to boosting local production of military hardware, railway materials, automotive components, and construction inputs — products Nigeria currently imports at high cost.
Query on Ajaokuta
During the meeting, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan questioned Mr Audu over a Memorandum of Understanding entered into with foreign partners.
She argued that little progress had been made since the minister assumed office and demanded an explanation for why the steel plant remains moribund.
“I am the senator representing Kogi Central, and since I got into the Senate, we have only met three times. We only seem to meet at budget presentations. We just meet; we talk to the media, and then every day we fold our arms and do nothing.
“Three years into you being a minister, we are still trying to go back and forth on what is the best model to move Ajaokuta. Isn’t that funny?” she queried.
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Responding, Mr Audu, who also hails from Kogi State, said his ministry had already submitted relevant details of the agreement to the committee and advised her to request the documents from the committee leadership.
Other comments
Kogi East Senator, Isah Jibrin, also urged the minister to reduce reliance on foreign investors and instead explore domestic financing options to revive the steel company.
Mr Ndubueze, the committee chairman, further criticised the ministry for not appearing regularly before the committee for oversight engagements.
He added that the committee had received reports indicating that some sections of Ajaokuta could still be operational if properly managed despite its current state.
The committee, however, resolved to hold subsequent meetings to further deliberate on issues surrounding the steel plant.
