The Special Adviser to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kehinde Bamigbetan, has rejected allegations that the Federal Government is favouring Chinese investors in Nigeria’s mining sector.
Bamigbetan said the licences of Basin Mining Limited were revoked because the company failed to pay mandatory annual service fees, not because of the nationality of any investor.
According to him, the company owed N1.223 billion on five mineral titles in 2024, and the liability had increased to N2.494 billion by the time the licences were withdrawn.
He also alleged that Jupiter, which he described as a British Australian company that was not originally part of the transaction, later took the Federal Government to international arbitration over an alleged breach of a Nigeria and United Kingdom bilateral treaty.
Bamigbetan accused the firm of supporting a public campaign against Solid Minerals Minister Dele Alake in an attempt to reverse the regulatory decision.
He dismissed suggestions that the minister had concentrated on Chinese investors, saying Alake had made only two official visits to China since taking office. One was connected to President Bola Tinubu’s state visit, while the other followed an invitation to China Mining Week in 2025.
The adviser said Alake had attended several major mining events in Western countries, including conferences in London, Cape Town and Australia. He also noted that foreign participation in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector dates back to the investment liberalisation reforms of 1995.
Bamigbetan said the current administration’s Seven Point Agenda was designed to close implementation gaps, strengthen enforcement and encourage local processing of minerals. He added that some Chinese companies had established processing plants in response to the policy, while Basin Mining failed to make productive use of its licences.
More than 300 companies from Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia are active in the sector, he said. He insisted that all investors, whether Nigerian or foreign, must comply with the country’s mining laws.
