Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office Revokes 1,263 Mineral Licences for Annual Fee Default

Mechanism

The Minerals and Mining Act 2007 requires all mineral title holders to pay an annual service fee to the MCO. Non-payment is grounds for revocation. The MCO published a gazette notice on 19 June 2025 identifying 1,957 initial defaulters and giving them a statutory 30-day cure window. After reconciling claims from licensees who said they had paid via Remita (government payment platform) but had not yet been reflected in MCO records, the final list was reduced to 1,263 titles. The revocation recommendation was forwarded to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, who approved it.

Breakdown by licence type:

• 584 exploration licences
• 65 mining leases
• 144 quarry licences
• 470 small-scale mining permits

The MCO director-general stated the list of confirmed defaulters would be referred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further enforcement and recovery action.

Context

This is the third wave of large-scale revocations under the Tinubu–Alake administration: 1. 2024 — 619 titles revoked for fee-payment default (first enforcement wave) 2. 2024 — 912 titles revoked for dormancy (titles held but no active exploration/production) 3. September 2025 — 1,263 titles revoked for fee default (this action)

Cumulative total: ~3,794 titles revoked. The administration frames this as a "sector reset" — clearing latent title-holders to free acreage for active, compliant operators, especially Chinese and Gulf-state investors targeting Nigeria's Nasarawa, Kogi, and Kwara lithium deposits.

The 7-Point Agenda (filed 2023-09-01) established beneficiation mandates and an enforcement roadmap for the solid-minerals sector. This revocation round is direct operational implementation of that agenda's compliance pillar.

Downstream implications

• Revoked acreage in Nasarawa–Kogi–Kwara lithium belt may be re-licensed to operators with capital to develop, accelerating the administration's battery-materials ambitions.
• EFCC referral adds a criminal-enforcement dimension beyond the administrative revocation — unusual escalation that may deter future non-payment.
• Small-scale mining (470 permits) is the largest category by count, consistent with the administration's stated goal of formalising artisanal/small-scale operators rather than tolerating dormant title-holders.
• No named corporate casualty disclosed; most revoked titles are presumed dormant juniors or speculative holders rather than active producers.

Open questions

• Which specific acreage blocks were revoked? MCO has not published a geo-referenced list.
• Will EFCC prosecutions follow, or is the referral primarily a deterrent signal?
• Are any Chinese or Gulf-state JV partners among the affected holders, given recent Chinese exploration activity in the lithium belt?