Ministry of Solid Minerals uncovers planned smear campaign against FG

The attention of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) has been drawn to a planned smear campaign by an ailing mining company, Jupiter Ltd, against the Federal Government during President Bola Tinubu’s upcoming state visit to the United Kingdom.

Earlier in the week, Special Adviser to the Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Kehinde Bamigbetan, responded to a series of company-sponsored falsehoods in a publication titled “Nigeria seizes UK lithium project under armed guard.”

Our response, titled “In Nigeria’s Mining Sector, the Law Does Not Respect People,” highlighted the antics of one Steve Davis and Hamish MacDonald, whose deceitful mining venture ultimately met the full brunt of the law.

According to a statement on Sunday by Segun Tomori, Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, “We have made it unequivocally clear that the allegations are baseless and unfounded. The Federal Government, through the ministry and the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office (NMCO) has no legal or contractual relationship with any company known as Jupiter Lithium as the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA 2007) expressly prohibits the granting of mining licenses to foreign companies.

“The reason for the dispute is the rigorous application of the rules regulating the mining sector, which made it necessary to revoke the mining titles belonging to a Nigerian company, Basin Mining Ltd, led by the aforementioned Davis, an Australian citizen. The revocation was carried out after the due warning was served on the company in line with the laws in force regarding non-payment of annual service fees.

“Therefore, the Mining Titles are hereby revoked due to non-payment of statutory annual service fees amounting to Two Billion, Four Hundred and Ninety-Four Million Naira (₦2,494,000,000) for Mining Titles 45454ML, 45117ML, 45118ML, 40532ML and 40533ML for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
Jupiter, without the knowledge of mining authorities, spread falsehoods by claiming that its securities had been revoked in favor of a Chinese company. This is a complete fabrication!

“Instead of adhering to Nigerian mining laws, Davis prefers to operate covertly as a mining speculator who creates companies to acquire mining titles and defraud the nation. Unfortunately for him and his ilk, the government’s strict enforcement of regulations has caught up with them.”

According to the statement, “Davis himself is a director of six such companies, namely Comet Minerals Ltd, Basin Mining Ltd, Range Mining Ltd, Northern Numero Ltd, Sunrise Minerals Ltd and Iron Ore Mining Ltd through which he held several licenses but chose to cry murder when the law caught up with one of his companies for failure to comply with statutory obligations.

“Such practices worsen Nigeria’s challenge to illegal mining, as speculators obtain licenses without undertaking actual mining operations, thus denying serious investors with real capital the opportunity to develop the sector.”

He said the nefarious activities of the past that hampered the growth of the mining sector will no longer be tolerated by the Tinubu administration.

“We therefore call on Nigerians and international communities to be wary of the impending display of shame by some discredited individuals who are bent on evading the Federal Government’s resolve to restore sanity and transparency in the mining sector.

“The federal government cannot and will not be intimidated or blackmailed into abandoning reforms by the antics of any individual or company. Our commitment to transforming the mining sector into a major contributor to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) is unwavering.

“Nigeria remains open to serious investors willing to operate within the framework of our laws and regulations.

“To encourage responsible investment, the government has introduced incentives such as tax exemption on imported mining equipment, full repatriation of profits and other measures aimed at improving the ease of doing business in the sector,” he said.