The Senate yesterday summoned the Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, to appear before its Committee on Solid Minerals next week Wednesday.
He is expected to brief it on the federal government’s work plan to develop the sector and block illegal mining.
The panel, chaired by Senator Sampson Ekong, berated Alake for allegedly disregarding all invitations sent to him since he was appointed by the President.
Ekong, during the committee’s meeting Thursday, expressed concerns that the minister had abandoned his primary duties of bringing the mining sector to international repute.
He said the minister’s relative inexperience in the sector had further created a crowdy future for the yet-to-be-explored wealth.
The committee, therefore, threatened to give zero allocation to the ministry in the 2024 fiscal year, if the minister failed to honour its invitations.
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