By Dennis Okechukwu
The Federal Government has accused a mining firm, Jupiter Ltd, of planning a campaign to discredit Nigeria during the state visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the United Kingdom.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) alleged that the embattled company intends to spread what it described as false allegations against the government and Nigeria’s mining sector.
The ministry said the development followed a publication earlier in the week titled “Nigeria Seizes British Lithium Project Under Armed Guard,” which it described as a “tissue of falsehoods” sponsored by Jupiter Ltd.
According to the statement, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Solid Minerals, Kehinde Bamigbetan, had earlier responded to the report in an article titled “In Nigeria’s Mining Sector, The Law Is No Respecter of Persons,” where the government rejected the allegations and explained the circumstances surrounding the revocation of certain mining titles.
The ministry clarified that 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.
It also stated that the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007 prohibits the granting of mining licences directly to foreign companies.
The ministry explained that the controversy stemmed from the revocation of mineral titles belonging to Basin Mining Ltd, a Nigerian company allegedly linked to Australian national Steve Davis. The titles were revoked after the company failed to pay statutory annual service fees.
According to the statement, the unpaid fees amounted to ₦2.494 billion for mineral titles 45454ML, 45117ML, 45118ML, 40532ML and 40533ML covering the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.
The ministry described claims that the licences were revoked in favour of a Chinese company as “completely fabricated,” insisting that the action was taken strictly in accordance with Nigerian mining regulations.
It further alleged that Davis is a director in six mining-related companies — Comet Minerals Ltd, Basin Mining Ltd, Range Mining Ltd, Northern Numero Ltd, Sunrise Minerals Ltd and Iron Ore Mining Ltd — through which he allegedly acquired multiple mineral licences.
According to the ministry, such practices contribute to the problem of speculative licence acquisition, where companies obtain mining titles without undertaking actual operations, thereby denying serious investors the opportunity to develop the sector.
The ministry stated that the current administration would not tolerate practices that previously hindered the growth of the mining industry, stressing that ongoing reforms under President Tinubu were aimed at restoring transparency and attracting genuine investment.
“We therefore urge Nigerians and the international community to be wary of the impending show of shame by a few discredited individuals who are bent on circumventing the Federal Government’s resolve to restore sanity and transparency to the mining sector,” the statement said.
It added that the government would not be intimidated or blackmailed into abandoning its reforms.
The ministry also reiterated that Nigeria remains open to credible investors willing to operate within the country’s legal and regulatory framework, noting that incentives such as tax waivers on imported mining equipment and full repatriation of profits have been introduced to improve the ease of doing business in the sector.