By Gloria Akudoro
The Federal Government has defended the revocation of mineral titles linked to a company associated with Jupiter Ltd, insisting the action followed due process and was based on the firm’s failure to pay statutory annual service fees amounting to N2.49 billion.
The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development raised the alarm in a statement on Sunday signed by Segun Tomori, Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, describing the move as a desperate attempt to discredit ongoing reforms in the nation’s mining sector.
The statement read: “It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) that an embattled mining firm, Jupiter Ltd, plans to orchestrate a campaign of calumny against the Federal Government of Nigeria during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu to the United Kingdom.
“Earlier in the week, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kehinde Bamigbetan, authored a robust response to a tissue of falsehoods sponsored by Jupiter Ltd in a publication titled “Nigeria Seizes British Lithium Project Under Armed Guard.
“Our response, titled “In Nigeria’s Mining Sector, The Law Is No Respecter of Persons,” exposed the antics of one Steve Davis and Hamish MacDonald, whose deceitful enterprise in the mining sector eventually met the full weight of the law.
“We made it unequivocally clear that the allegations are baseless and unfounded. The Federal Government, through the Ministry and the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office (NMCO), has no legal or contractual relationship with any company known as Jupiter Lithium, as the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA 2007) expressly prohibits the granting of mining licences to foreign companies.”
The ministry further stated that the bone of contention is the strict application of regulations governing the mining sector, which necessitated the revocation of mineral titles belonging to a Nigerian company, Basin Mining Ltd, fronted by the said Mr. Davis, an Australian national. It added that the revocation was done after due notice was served on the company in line with extant laws on default in payment of annual service fees.
“Hence, the mineral titles were revoked due to failure to pay statutory annual service fees amounting to Two Billion, Four Hundred and Ninety-Four Million Naira (N2,494,000,000) for mineral titles 45454ML, 45117ML, 45118ML, 40532ML, and 40533ML for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.
“Jupiter though unknown to the mining authorities, peddled falsehoods by claiming that its titles were revoked in favour of a Chinese firm. This is a complete fabrication!
“Instead of adhering to Nigerian mining laws, Davis would rather operate surreptitiously as a mining speculator who sets up companies to acquire mineral titles and shortchange the nation. Unfortunately for him and his ilk, the government’s strict application of the regulations caught up with them,” it stated.
According to the statement, same Davis is a director in six such companies: Comet Minerals Ltd, Basin Mining Ltd, Range Mining Ltd, Northern Numero Ltd, Sunrise Minerals Ltd, and Iron Ore Mining Ltd. Through these fronts, he held several licences but chose to cry blue murder when the law caught up with one of his companies for defaulting on statutory obligations.
Such practices worsen Nigeria’s challenge of illegal mining, as speculators obtain licences without undertaking actual mining operations, thereby denying serious investors with genuine capital the opportunity to develop the sector.
The nefarious activities of the past that stunted the growth of the mining sector will no longer be tolerated by the Tinubu administration. On going reforms that have repositioned the sector and attracted growing global interest have come to stay.
The ministry therefore urged Nigerians and the international community to be wary of the impending show of shame by a few discredited individuals who are bent on circumventing the federal government’s resolve to restore sanity and transparency to the mining sector.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria cannot and will not be intimidated or blackmailed into abandoning reforms by the antics of any individual or company.
Our commitment to transforming the mining sector into a major contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is unwavering.
“Nigeria remains open to serious investors who are willing to operate within the framework of our laws and regulations. To encourage responsible investment, government, has introduced incentives such as tax waivers on imported mining equipment, full repatriation of profits, and other measures aimed at enhancing the ease of doing business in the sector,” it reiterated.
