…keeping licences in drawers unacceptable – Alake

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – THE Federal Government, weekend, revoked 1,263 mineral licences over annual service fees default.

According to a statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, the licenses will be deleted from the portal of the Electronic Mining Cadastre Office, MCO, and they include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.

Tomori also said the revocation was approved approving following the recommendation of the MCO, which the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake said applying the law to keep speculators and unserious investors away from the mining sector would make way for diligent investors and grow the sector.

Hence, by opening up the areas formerly covered by these licenses, the revocation is expected to spur fresh applications by investors looking for fresh opportunities.

The latest revocation brings the total mineral titles revoked under the current administration to 3, 794 including 619 mineral titles revoked for defaulting in paying annual service fees and 912 for dormancy last year.

This is part of ongoing efforts at sanitizing the sector since the inception of the Tinubu administration and the salutary effects of the reforms are massive and manifest despite the attempts to push back by defaulters and their agents.

Alake said: “The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites is over.

“The annual service fee is the minimum evidence that you are interested in mining. You don’t have to wait for us to revoke the license because the law allows you to return the license if you change your mind.”

He also warned that the revocation does not mean the Federal Government has pardoned the annual service debt owed by licensees, adding that the list will be forwarded to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to ensure that debtors pay or face the wrath of the law.

“This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities”, he added.

Meanwhile, in the recommendation to the Minister, the Director-General, MCO, Engr Simon Nkom, disclosed that there were 1,957 initial defaulters when the MCO published the intention to revoke licences in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025.

Nkom also informed the Minister that the gazette was distributed to MCO offices nationwide to sensitise licencees and encourage them to comply within 30 days in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 and relevant regulations.

According to the MCO boss, the delay in the final recommendation was due to complaints of several licensees who claimed to have paid to the Federal Government through Remita and had to be reconciled.