The Federal Government spent about N7.21 billion on Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited between 2020 and 2025, despite the nearly 50-year-old steel complex in Kogi State remaining largely dormant.
The expenditure covered 501 transactions involving taxes and other statutory obligations, pension and housing fund contributions, maintenance, road works and other infrastructure-related payments, according to spending records obtained from GovSpend and reviewed by Punch.
The spending occurred as Nigeria continued to rely heavily on imported steel, with iron and steel imports reportedly averaging about N526 billion annually over the past six years, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Ajaokuta Steel was conceived in 1979 and constructed with Soviet assistance as a major component of Nigeria’s industrialisation plans.
The complex was designed to produce up to five million tonnes of steel annually, using domestic iron ore resources to reduce dependence on imports and support industrial growth.
However, despite the scale of the facility, the spending records indicate that the Federal Government continued to incur substantial costs associated with the company while it remained unable to achieve the large-scale production for which it was designed.
In 2020, expenditure linked to Ajaokuta stood at approximately N795.4 million across 57 transactions.
The figure increased to N1.19 billion in 2021, when 119 transactions were recorded, before falling to about N1.01 billion in 2022.
Government spending rose again to N1.36 billion in 2023 and peaked at approximately N1.66 billion in 2024 across 107 transactions.
In 2025, expenditure declined to about N1.20 billion.
The figures indicate that government expenditure on the company was a recurring cost rather than a one-off intervention.
Some of the payments covered routine obligations, including taxes, value-added tax, pension contributions, National Housing Fund contributions and other statutory commitments.
Other expenditures were related to maintenance and infrastructure, including road rehabilitation, access-road repairs and the installation of solar-powered streetlights.
The records also contained payments for infrastructure-related projects in Lagos, including works around Obalende, Okofaji, Olowogbowo and Isale Eko, as well as the rehabilitation of a 250-metre access road at Idoluwo Street on Lagos Island.
The payments raise questions about the scope of Ajaokuta Steel Company’s responsibilities and the reason a steel company whose main industrial facility is located in Kogi State was involved in some infrastructure-related expenditure in Lagos.
The purpose of those payments and their connection to Ajaokuta would require clarification through the relevant authorising agencies, contracts and procurement records.
The continued expenditure comes as the Federal Government renews efforts to revive the long-delayed steel project and attract new investment.
The Ajaokuta Presidential Project and Implementation Team, inaugurated in May 2020, was established to accelerate the revival of the complex, coordinate a work plan and facilitate efforts towards concession or implementation with private and international partners.
In July 2026, Ajaokuta Steel Company reportedly signed a 20-year gas supply agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, with the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria and NNPC Exploration and Production Limited also involved.
The agreement reportedly provides for three million standard cubic feet per day of firm gas and up to 47 million standard cubic feet per day of interruptible gas.
The gas supply is expected to support power generation and contribute to efforts to revive the steel complex.
Ajaokuta Managing Director, Nasir Naeem Abdulsalam, who was appointed in April 2025 to lead the turnaround, said prospective investors had repeatedly identified gas availability as a major concern.
“Without gas, you can’t operate the steel plant,” Abdulsalam said, describing gas supply as critical to steel production and the independent power generation required at the complex.
Despite the limited progress, there are some signs of activity at the facility, with engineers operating a modular blast furnace producing items such as manhole covers, utility poles and rail-track components for a small domestic market.
The limited output, however, remains far below the capacity for which the complex was originally designed.
The development comes as President Bola Tinubu’s administration seeks to expand domestic manufacturing and has set a target of producing 10 million tonnes of crude steel annually by 2030.
Nigeria continues to spend significant sums importing steel despite having a major steel complex designed to support domestic production.
Minister of Steel Development, Abubakar Audu, has estimated that Nigeria spends about $4 billion, or approximately N5.6 trillion, annually on iron and steel imports.
The latest spending figures have therefore renewed questions over the cost of maintaining Ajaokuta Steel Company, the pace of its revival and the economic benefits Nigeria can derive from fully operationalising the long-dormant complex.
