20th of January, 2026

🛑BREAKING NEWS .

Northern Elders Forum Challenges Location of 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, arguing that the decision violates constitutional principles of federal character, equity, and derivation.

In an open letter to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NEF said most of Nigeria’s gold deposits are in the North and that placing the refinery in Lagos would deepen structural inequality by denying resource-producing regions the benefits of value addition and industrial development.

The federal government responded that the refinery is a private sector–driven initiative and not a regional agenda, noting that other refineries and mineral processing plants are being developed across the country.
However, the NEF insisted that strategic economic infrastructure must reflect fairness and inclusion, warning that extracting resources from one region while concentrating economic gains elsewhere undermines constitutional commitments to balanced national development.

#NorthernEldersForum #GoldRefinery #NigeriaPolitics #FederalCharacter #ResourceControl #EconomicEquity #TinubuAdministration #NationalDevelopment

~National Updates

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