The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, yesterday assured the nation that the technical audit on the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited will start in February.
The technical audit would pave the way for the rehabilitation, completion and operation of the steel plant and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Kogi State, Nigeria.
The Minister gave the assurance when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Steel Development to defend his ministry’s 2024 budget expenditure and the 2025 Appropriation.
The federal government in September last year, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the original builders of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, Messrs, Tyazhpromexport (TPE) and members of their consortium Messrs Novostal M and Proforce Manufacturing Limited, to carry out the technical audit.
This was just as the joint panel queried the Ministry over the sum of N2 billion allegedly meant for a boot camp to train youths in metal works but captured differently in the 2024 budget.
