The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has begun a verification exercise of the steel sector of the economy.
.
The steel companies in Lagos and Ogun State visited so far by the agency's team include Universal Steel Company, Sankyo Steel Mills Company Limited, Phoenix Steel Mills, African Foundries Limited, Monarch Steel Mills, Metal Africa Steel Production Limited and Real Infrastructure Nigeria Limited.
.
Engineer Bede Obayi, who led the verification team, said that the exercise which would be extended to other states was necessitated by a number of reasons including the revelation that some companies were producing products without putting their identification marks on it, mixing of imported steel with locally produced ones.
.
"Why we are doing the verification is because government wants to know the exact situation of the companies in the steel sector in Nigeria. This is in terms of installed capacity, production capacity, level of patronage and even jobs created. For example, we cannot be producing the same quality of steel as the imported ones and then, the imported ones would take over the market," he said.
.
This he said is an anomaly which should not be allowed, adding that steel companies creating jobs for Nigerians are supporting the policies and programmes of the federal government and should not be allowed to suffer.