President Muhammadu Buhari‘s administration will no longer complete the Ajaokuta steel plant in 2022 due to COVID pandemic and the raging Russia-Ukraine war
The twin-events have frustrated the project which was billed for completion this year, on several fronts,Olamilekan Adegbite, minister of mines and steel development, told reporters in Abuja.
According to him,the federal government had, before the pandemic, convinced Russia to complete the steel facility but could not proceed with the negotiations due to the deadly disease
The government moved to continue the negotiations with Russia after the lockdown, but progress was again frustrated on account of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,he said ,adding that the federal government would initiate irreversible processes to ensure the resumption and eventual completion of the steel facility after Buhari’s administration.
He said:“Where we are today, we may not be able to get Ajaokuta to work but I pray that we can start something permanent.I’ve said it before. When we came back from Russia, yes, I went to the public and said, ‘look we will deliver Ajaokuta before the end of this tenure’. And I pray that I’ll have a chance to go back and apologise and explain what happened to the people before I leave office.
“It is due to no fault of ours. Everybody was ready to go, but unfortunately, COVID came in. So, it is a force majeure.”
