Femi Falana, SAN, renowned Human rights lawyer, on Friday, disclosed that Nigeria loses at least $9 billion worth of gold due to illegal mining on yearly basis.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Falana said; “Just yesterday, a friend was asking me ‘how can this government appoint Dele Alake as Minister of Solid Minerals… it should be Information’.
“Do you know the implication? $9 billion worth of gold is illegally taken from Nigeria annually according to former minister, Dr Ogah, through private jets”.
He further narrated the story of a farmer who was chased out of his farm and offered N150,000 as compensation.
“They (clients) came to us and we said don’t worry, we will go to court… the judge awarded N250 million naira.
“Unfortunately, after the case, we discovered that in 5 years, that company will make a profit of $500 million dollars.”
About the floating of naira, the cerebral lawyer said; “There’s no provision for floating the naira. It’s illegal. You say, ‘The value of the naira will be determined by market forces.’ That is not there in the law.
“I’ve had to sue the Central Bank of Nigeria at the Federal High Court because Section 16 of the Central Bank Act has imposed a duty on the Central Bank to fix and determine the rate of the naira vis-à-vis other currency.”
