By Nworisa Michael
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has strongly opposed the location of Nigeria’s proposed National Gold Refinery in Lagos State, describing the decision as a direct violation of constitutional principles of equity, federal balance, and economic justice.
However, the Federal Government has rejected the allegation, insisting that the refinery project is entirely private sector driven and not a federal initiative, warning against framing it as a regional agenda.
In an open letter dated January 18, 2026, and signed by its spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jika Jiddere, the NEF accused the Federal Government of concentrating strategic economic infrastructure away from resource-producing regions, despite the fact that Nigeria’s commercially viable gold deposits are overwhelmingly located in Northern Nigeria.
The letter, addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and members of the Federal Executive Council, was 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.”
According to the forum, locating the refinery in Lagos goes beyond administrative convenience and strikes at the heart of Nigeria’s constitutional commitments.
NEF cited Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which enshrines the federal character principle, arguing that while it is often applied to political appointments, its spirit also covers the distribution of strategic economic assets.
The forum further referenced Section 16(1)(b), which mandates the state to manage the economy in a way that guarantees social justice, equality of opportunity, and welfare for all citizens.
NEF argued that extracting gold from the North while siting refining, industrial jobs, and capital accumulation elsewhere undermines the principle of derivation under Section 162(2) of the Constitution.
According to the forum, denying gold-producing regions access to refining infrastructure hollows out derivation, reducing it to “a token accounting exercise” rather than a genuine mechanism for shared prosperity.
The forum stressed that international best practices in countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, Ghana, and Chile deliberately place refining and processing facilities close to mining sites to reduce logistics costs, curb smuggling, strengthen oversight, and anchor regional industrialisation.
It described Nigeria’s decision to refine gold far from its source as economically regressive, warning that it mirrors colonial-era extractive models where raw materials are sourced from the periphery while wealth is accumulated at the centre.
NEF highlighted that states such as Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, and adjoining areas have borne the environmental degradation, insecurity, social dislocation, and criminal networks associated with illegal mining.
Yet, according to the forum, when opportunities arise for skilled employment, technology transfer, and industrial clustering, the same region is repeatedly bypassed.
The forum warned that Nigeria already suffers from acute spatial inequality, with federal assets, industrial concentration, and economic power disproportionately clustered in Lagos and its environs fueling resentment, eroding trust in the federal compact, and pushing the country toward a legitimacy crisis.
Drawing parallels with oil refining, NEF questioned why the logic of siting refineries near crude-producing regions is not applied to gold.
Beyond the Federal Government, NEF issued a direct warning to Northern political leaders and elites, accusing them of silence and complicity.
The forum stated that history would not absolve leaders who chose comfort, access, or political favour over defending the economic dignity of their people.
It described the refinery decision not as an oversight, but as deliberate economic dispossession, warning that continued denial of value addition would deepen poverty, youth despair, insecurity, and instability.
“This is not development; it is internal colonialism,” the forum said, adding that economic injustice, if ignored, could evolve into a major security crisis.
Reacting to the controversy, the Federal Government dismissed NEF’s claims, insisting that the gold refinery is not a government project.
Segun Tomori, spokesperson to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, said the refinery is a private sector initiative by Kian Smith Company FZE, with the government holding zero equity.
“The gold refinery was neither initiated nor established by the Federal Government. Our role is limited to providing an enabling environment for investors,” Tomori said.
He explained that the company initially began construction in Ogun State before relocating to Lagos in 2021 after identifying a more favourable business climate, completing the project in 2025.
Tomori also rejected claims of industrial concentration in Lagos, pointing to ongoing mining and processing projects in Northern Nigeria, including:
Three lithium processing plants, with two operational and a $600 million lithium plant in Nasarawa State ready for commissioning
A multi-million-dollar iron ore processing plant in Kaduna State operated by African Natural Resources Mining Limited
He added that Kian Smith operates across multiple states, including Kaduna, Kano, and Niger, and partners with state governments under a cooperative federalism framework.
The Northern States Governors’ Forum said it had not yet taken a collective position on the issue.
According to Ismaila Uba Misilli, spokesperson to the forum’s chairman and Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, the governors would first deliberate internally before issuing any official statement.
He noted that the forum remains committed to protecting regional interests on matters of national importance.
The Zamfara State Government openly backed NEF’s position, describing the refinery’s location in Lagos as unjust.
Commissioner for Information, Mahmud Muhammad Dantawasa, said Zamfara Nigeria’s leading gold-producing state was the most suitable location for the refinery.
He dismissed security concerns as an excuse, insisting that the Federal Government is bigger than any terrorist group and warning that transporting raw gold from Zamfara to Lagos would pose serious logistical and economic challenges.
Similarly, the state’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Abdulrahman Tumbido, urged the Federal Government to review its decision, revealing that foreign investors had previously expressed interest in building a gold refinery in Zamfara.
According to him, ignoring such realities raises questions about the government’s true intentions.