FG revokes 1,263 mineral licenses

 Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has cancelled 1,263 mineral licenses after operators failed to meet the legal requirement of paying annual service fees.

The decision, announced in Abuja on Sunday, September 21, through a statement by the minister’s media aide, Segun Tomori, followed recommendations from the Mining Cadastral Office (MCO).

 

According to the ministry, the affected titles included 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.

 

Alake said the action was part of wider efforts to clean up the mining sector by removing speculators and unserious investors.

“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,” he said.

He added that the government expected genuine investors to demonstrate commitment by paying the fees. “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 it if you change your mind.”

 

The minister also stressed that the cancellations did not absolve defaulters of responsibility, revealing that their names would be sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for recovery. “This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities,” he noted.

 

In his recommendation to the minister, MCO Director-General Simon Nkom said the process began after the agency published a notice of intention to revoke in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025. At that time, there were 1,957 defaulting license holders.

 

He explained that the delay in the final action was due to reconciliation with some operators who had claimed to have paid their fees via Remita.

 

The latest round of cancellations means 3,794 mineral titles have now been revoked under the current administration. That figure includes 619 licenses stripped for non-payment of fees and another 912 cancelled last year for dormancy.

 

Alake maintained that the reforms were already yielding results despite resistance. According to him, the changes have brought “massive and manifest” improvements in the sector’s operations.