In a move to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudsters, federal government is embarking on a clean-up exercise of the sector by revoking mining licenses.
The exercise is aimed at making room for genuine investors and ensuring compliance with the extant law guiding the sector.
Director-General of the Mining Cadastre Office, MCO, Engr Obadiah Nkom, stated this during a live conversation on X (formerly Twitter), with the theme: “A deep dive into the Mining Cadastre Office: Driving transparency and order in Nigeria’s solid minerals.”
The revocation order, approved by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, will involve expired, speculative and inactive titles.
Nkom disclosed that MCO has identified and revoked 4,709 licenses, including 1,400 expired titles, 2,338 refused applications and 971 notifications of grant where applicants failed to pay.
Dismissing the rumor that the exercise was punitive, the director-general noted that the revocation order was a deliberate sanitisation process to weed out speculators who hoard licenses without adding value to the economy.
Insisting that the exercise had already boosted investors confidence in the sector, Nkom explained, “When you talk about backlog, for now, the ministry has had reasons to actually 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 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 collected the grants, but they refused to pay. So what do we do? This exercise is to be able to create that space in the minefield for people.
“So, imagine having over 4,709 titles erased from our system by way of revocations. 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 we have 100 percent success in litigations. Where we are wrong, we do not shy away from doing the right thing. I hope that at the end of the day, we will not have any risk by following the provisions of the Act.
“There are some people that have too many licenses and are not contributing to the sector. This was the view of the minister in terms of the fees reviewed. Again, like I said from the beginning, it is to sanitise the sector. “
The director-general also raised alarm over the activities of impostors parading as staff or agents of the agency, warning that anyone apprehended would be prosecuted by government.
He said his agency 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 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.
