 slammed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over plans to site what it called a “National Gold Refinery” in Lagos,){kind=link}
A fresh fault line has opened in Nigeria’s resource politics as the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) slammed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over plans to site what it called a “National Gold Refinery” in Lagos, warning that the move deepens structural inequality and undermines the spirit of federal balance.
In a strongly worded open letter dated January 18, 2026, and signed by NEF spokesperson Professor Abubakar Jika Jiddere, the forum accused the Federal Government of concentrating value addition far from the source of Nigeria’s gold wealth—largely located in Northern states. The letter, addressed to the President and members of the Federal Executive Council, framed the decision as a constitutional, economic and political misstep.
NEF anchored its argument on Sections 14(3), 16(1)(b) and 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), insisting that federal character goes beyond appointments to include strategic economic infrastructure, and that derivation must translate into real industrial benefits for resource-bearing regions. “To extract minerals in one region and refine elsewhere is to hollow out derivation into a token exercise,” the forum argued.
The controversy follows an announcement by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, during talks with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. The minister disclosed that operations had commenced at a high-purity gold refining plant in Lagos, while three additional refineries were at various stages nationwide and a $600 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State was ready for commissioning.
Federal officials, however, pushed back, describing NEF’s claims as a mischaracterisation of a private sector–driven mining initiative rather than a regional agenda.
But NEF remained unmoved, warning that siting refining capacity away from gold-producing areas denies host communities jobs, industrial growth and capital accumulation. “Resource origin must matter,” the forum said, urging a rethink that aligns national infrastructure with equity, inclusion and constitutional intent.
As Nigeria’s mining ambitions accelerate, the refinery row signals a larger debate—who benefits, where value is added, and whether the gold rush will glitter for all regions equally.
Source:@ADCVanguard
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