The Federal Government has announced plans to revoke more mining licences as part of efforts to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudulent practices.
Director-General of the Mining Cadastre Office, Obadiah Nkom, disclosed this on Thursday during a live conversation on X (formerly Twitter) titled “A Deep Dive into the Mining Cadastre Office: Driving Transparency and Order in Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Sector.”
He explained that the ongoing clean-up exercise targets expired, speculative, and inactive titles, stressing that the move is aimed at creating space for genuine investors and ensuring compliance with the law.
According to Nkom, the MCO has so far identified 4,709 licences, including 1,400 expired titles, 2,338 refused applications, and 971 notifications of grant where applicants failed to pay, which have been revoked by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
Speaking during the three-hour live session, the Director-General emphasised that the revocation of licences was not punitive but part of a deliberate clean-up to remove speculators who hoard titles without contributing to the economy. Nkom added that the exercise has already strengthened 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.
It will be recalled that in 2024, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development revoked 924 licences for failure to pay statutory charges and fees due to the Federal Government through the Mining Cadastre Office. At the time, he warned licence holders yet to resume operations on their mining sites to do so immediately.
The minister had explained that licence racketeering—where individuals acquire titles over Cadastral units known to contain commercially viable minerals without putting them to use—was a major obstacle to the sector’s growth.
Just last month, he also hinted at plans to revoke additional dormant licences following the conclusion of an ongoing review.
The DG also raised concerns about impostors posing as staff or agents of the Mining Cadastre Office, warning that the government, in collaboration with security agencies, will now prosecute offenders.
He disclosed that the office has already lodged formal complaints with the Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to track and bring impersonators to justice.
“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.
