The Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kehinde Bamigbetan has dismissed allegations that the Federal Government is handing the country’s mineral resources to Chinese interests, insisting that the claims were part of a coordinated blackmail campaign by aggrieved foreign investors.
Bamigbetan, in a statement accused an activist, Steve Kefas of peddling what he calls falsehoods on behalf of Jupiter, a foreign company allegedly linked to Basin Mining Limited, whose mining licences were revoked over unpaid statutory fees.
He explains that the revocation had nothing to do with politics or foreign interests but was based strictly on the company’s failure to meet its financial obligations under Nigeria’s mining laws.
According to him, Basin Mining Limited owed N1.223 billion in annual service fees when it was first served notice in 2024, while the debt had risen to N2.494 billion before the licences were eventually revoked.
Bamigbetan alleged that instead of allowing legal processes to run their course, Jupiter resorted to international arbitration and media campaigns in a bid to pressure Nigeria’s Government into reversing the decision.
Bamigbetan describes allegations that the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake is favouring Chinese investors over Western companies as baseless.
He futher argues that the Minister had attended more mining investment conferences in Europe, Australia and South Africa than in China, pointing to his participation in the London Mines and Money Conference, Africa Down Under in Perth and the Mining Indaba conference as evidence of efforts to attract global investments.
He maintains that Nigeria’s decision to liberalise the mining sector did not begin under the Tinubu administration but dates back to 1995 with the enactment of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, which opened the economy to foreign direct investment.
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Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu
