Pending issues’ll be resolved, minister assures UC Rusal management
Omeiza Bilal
The Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, has assured the management of UC Rusal Group, that all pending issues surrounding the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), would be resolved.
Giving the assurance after an oversight tour of ALSCON, the added that Federal Government is willing to quickly resolve the issues that have kept the plant moribund.
ALSCON is located in Ikot-Abasi, Akwa-Ibom State.
In the meeting, he said President Bola Tinubu has directed him to resolve all the disputes hampering the operation of ALSCON viz: the legal impasse over ownership, gas pricing, dredging of the Imo River, amongst other issues.
Prince Audu said that as the regulator of the sector, it was his responsibility to ensure the various issues are resolved without prejudice to the Supreme Court judgement on the ownership of the plant so that the plant can commence commercial production within the shortest possible time.
“The essence of my visit here is to have a first-hand view of the capacity of the plant. I need to see how committed the management team is to getting the plant back on track and also to assure the ALSCON team that the federal government is doing everything humanly possible to ensure an amicable resolution is found in a way that is not prejudicial to the Supreme Court judgement.
“There is currently a Supreme Court judgement that must be respected by the Federal Government. However, there is also a ruling by the London Court of Arbitration which is also binding on the parties involved in the ownership tussle”. However, as the regulator of the industry, I still have the responsibility to have an oversight and an overview of the Aluminum Industry.
“This plant, once operational again, will be a big source of raw material for the automobile industry. From the information I have, the plant has the capacity to employ direct and indirect staff of close to 20,000 people.
“So, we must find a resolution around the teething problems. I have also had separate discussions with the BFIG group,” Prince Audu said.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Chris Isokpunwu, said the steel plant is critical to the economic growth of the country, especially at a time when reviving the steel and metals sector is a priority of the current administration.
Dr. Isokpunwu said the ministry will do all it can to ensure the plant become functional again.
Managing Director, UC Rusal, Mr. Dmitriy Zaviyalov, thanked the minister for his visit, commending the efforts of the federal government in ensuring the plant becomes operational again, noting that Rusal is ready to kick-start operations within the shortest possible time. Zaviyalov said, “Rusal is ready to start quickly. We are waiting for two things: the ownership issue to be resolved and we need the support from the Nigerian government side on the issue of gas pricing. We are expecting the Nigerian government to step in within the legal framework to find solutions to help Rusal to start work immediately”.
