The Federal Government has said more mining licences will be revoked as part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudsters.
The Director-General of the Mining Cadastre Office, Obadiah Nkom, disclosed this on Thursday during a live conversation on X (formerly Twitter), themed “A deep dive into the Mining Cadastre Office: Driving transparency and order in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.”
According to Nkom, the clean-up exercise, which covers expired, speculative, and inactive titles, is necessary to make room for genuine investors and ensure compliance with the law.
He disclosed that the agency had identified about 4,709 licences, including 1,400 expired titles, 2,338 refused applications and 971 notifications of grant where applicants failed to pay, leading to an outright revocation by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
Speaking during the live session over three hours, the DG stressed that the revocation was not punitive but part of a deliberate sanitisation process to weed out speculators who hoard licences without adding value to the economy.
Nkom explained that the exercise had already boosted investor confidence in the sector.
He said, “When you talk about backlog, for now, the ministry has had reasons to clear or revoke close to 4,709 mineral licenses. There were implementations in terms of revoked expiring titles of up to 1,400 licenses. We have had reasons to refuse applications in the system, 2,338. We have had a mineral title notification of 971. Can you imagine 971 notifications of grants that were notified but did not come to pay?
“There are even instances where some people have collected the grants, but they refuse to pay. So what do we do? So this cleaning exercise that we are doing is to be able to now create that space in the minefield for people. So, imagine having over 4,709 erased from our system by way of revocations implemented. It has sanitised our sector, and investors now know that if they are not going to be involved in exploration and value addition, there will be consequences.
“We are cautious. We follow the law. And this is why I repeat, we have had 100 per cent success in litigations because we are an agency compliant with the provisions of the Act. Where we are wrong, we are not shy away from trapping ourselves and doing the right thing. I would hope that at the end of the day, we will not have any risk by following the provisions of the Act.
“Because there are some people who you find out that they have collected, they have too many licenses, and are not contributing to the sector. The was the view of the minister in terms of those fees reviewed. Again, like I said from the beginning, it is to be able to sanitise the sector. Not allowing somebody to have plenty of licenses. And after all, you say, how much is the total fee for renewal per year and since the amount was small. They just kept hold of it. But now, many of them have had to relinquish their licenses for serious investors.”
He added, “And I can tell you that there are citizens out there who come in, and then when they look at the system, they look at those things, they really are overpopulated with licenses. And then, unfortunately, you find the license there.
“You find somebody calling some people. Maybe he has never heard of them. You say, “Oh, you want this license.” That is completely, that is over. That period is over. People are now coming to surrender their licenses because it’s toxic for them. And this is the sanity that is needed.”
Recall that the minister in 2024 revoked 924 licenses over failure to pay statutory charges and fees due to the federal government through the Mining Cadastral Office, warning licensees yet to resume work on their mining projects to do so immediately.
The minister had at the time explained that one of the obstacles to the development of the sector was licence racketeering carried out by persons who obtained licences over Cadastral units that they knew had minerals of commercial value.
Last month, the minister also hinted at plans to revoke fresh dormant mining licences following the conclusion of an ongoing review process.
Continuing, the DG also raised alarm over the activities of impostors parading as staff or agents of the Mining Cadastre Office, warning that the government would now prosecute offenders in collaboration with security agencies.
He revealed that the office had made formal complaints to the Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to track and prosecute impersonators.
“We are going to bite and bite hard. These impersonators deceive innocent investors by giving the impression that they are staff of the cadastre. They collect money and documents illegally, tarnishing the image of the sector,” Nkom said.
“We appreciate legitimate consultants and company representatives, but no one should impersonate us. The era of touts and fraudsters thriving around our offices is over.”
To further protect investors, Nkom said the MCO had integrated with the Corporate Affairs Commission’s real-time verification system to ensure that only duly registered companies could obtain mineral titles.