Northern Elders Kick Against Tinubu’s Plan to Site National Gold Refinery in Lagos

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has opposed the Federal Government’s plan to locate a national gold refinery in Lagos State, describing the decision as a violation of constitutional principles of equity, federal balance and inclusive development.

In an open letter dated January 18, 2026, and addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and members of the Federal Executive Council, the forum accused the government of concentrating strategic economic infrastructure in one region while excluding others, particularly the North where most of Nigeria’s commercially viable gold deposits are located.

The letter, titled “Open Letter to the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Location of the National Gold Refinery, Federal Character, Derivation and the Deepening Crisis of Structural Inequality,” was signed by NEF spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jika Jiddere.

The controversy followed an announcement by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, that operations had commenced at a high-purity gold refining plant in Lagos.

Alake made the disclosure during a meeting with the Saudi Arabian Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, ahead of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Segun Tomori, the minister clarified that the Lagos refinery was part of a private sector–driven initiative. He also disclosed that three additional gold refineries were at various stages of development across the country, while a $600 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State was ready for commissioning.

However, the NEF insisted that the location of the Lagos refinery raised fundamental constitutional and economic concerns. The forum argued that Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which enshrines the federal character principle, goes beyond political appointments and extends to the siting of strategic economic infrastructure.

“Strategic economic infrastructure is as consequential to federal balance as political office,” the letter stated, warning against what it described as the structural concentration of national advantages in one region.

The forum also cited Section 16(1)(b) of the Constitution, which mandates the state to manage the national economy in a way that ensures social justice, equality of opportunity and the welfare of all citizens.

According to the NEF, extracting mineral resources from one region while locating value addition, industrial jobs and capital accumulation elsewhere contradicts this constitutional obligation.

In addition, the forum referenced Section 162(2) on the principle of derivation, arguing that resource-producing areas are entitled not only to fiscal benefits but also to the industrial and developmental gains associated with refining and processing.

“To deny gold-producing regions the industrial and developmental benefits of refining is to hollow out the derivation principle and reduce it to a token accounting exercise,” the NEF said.

The Federal Government, however, dismissed the criticism, describing it as unfortunate that a private sector–driven mining initiative was being framed as a regional or political agenda.