The Federal Government said on Tuesday that legal encumbrances arising from the ruling of the London Court of Arbitration on the ownership of Ajaokuta Steel Complex are still tying down efforts to concession the steel plant.
The Sole Administrator of the steel complex, Sumaila Abdul-Akaba, told the joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy that a 2010 audit report showed that $1.2 billion was required to turn around the moribund steel plant.
The Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, told the committee that until all issues that emanated from the position of the London Court of Arbitration were addressed, it would be difficult to put up Ajaokuta Steel Complex for concession.
Fayemi, who spoke at the 2018 budget defence of his ministry, said they were working assiduously to bring the moribund steel complex back to life.
The minister was responding to a question on when the Ajaokuta Steel will be brought back to life to function maximally.
The Federal Government and Messrs Global Steel Holding Limited, an Indian firm, started negotiation for amicable resolution of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex ownership tussle in 2008.