BY FAITH AIRAODION

The Federal Government has revoked 1,263 mineral licenses over the failure to meet the annual service fees.

The affected mineral licenses will be deleted from the portal of the Electronic Mining Cadastral system of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, (MCO) following their revocation by the government.

According to a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, the affected license include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases, 

 The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development revealed in a statement that the revocation is expected to spur fresh applications by investors looking for fresh opportunities, .

Approving the revocation following the recommendation of the MCO, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, 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.

He added that the era of obtaining licenses and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites is over.

According to Alake, the revocation does not mean the Federal Government has pardoned the annual service debt owed by licensees, rather the list would be forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure that debtors pay or face the wrath of the law.

He added that this is to encourage due diligence and emphasize the consequences of overwhelming the license application processes with speculative activities.

In the recommendation to the minister, the Director-General of the MCO, Simon Nkom revealed that there were 1,957 initial defaulters when the MCO published the intention to revoke licenses in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025.

He informed the minister that the gazette was distributed to MCO offices nationwide to sensitize licensees and encourage them to comply within 30 days in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 and relevant regulations.

Nkom explained that 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.

The government stated that 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.