Abuja, Sept. 22, 2025 – The Federal Government has revoked 1,263 mineral licenses in the bid to sanitise the sector and enforce compliance with extant laws.
The revoked licenses comprise 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.
Segun Tomori, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
The statement quoted the minister saying that the revocation was approved due to the failure of the affected companies to comply with the mandatory payment of their annual service fees.
He said the revocation was also meant to weed out speculators and unserious operators from the mining sector and create space for genuine investors.
“The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for speculative purposes is over. Financially capable and industrious businessmen who are ready to work should have access to sites.
“The annual service fee is the minimum evidence of seriousness in mining.
“Those who are no longer interested in mining are free to return their licenses rather than hold them idle,” he said.
The minister, however, said the revocation of the licences would not obliterate debts owed by the defaulters.
He said the list of defaulters would be forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for debt recovery and possible prosecution to encourage due diligence and deter speculative activities in the sector.
