The Federal Government has accused an embattled mining firm, Jupiter Ltd, of planning a smear campaign against Nigeria during President Bola Tinubu’s visit to the United Kingdom (UK).
In a statement on Sunday, the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development said the company intends to circulate what it described as false allegations aimed at discrediting Nigeria and undermining ongoing reforms in the mining sector.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Segun Tomori, said the alleged move followed a recent rebuttal of claims linked to Jupiter in a publication titled “Nigeria Seizes British Lithium Project Under Armed Guard.”
Tomori stated that the claims had already been addressed and dismissed as misleading by the minister’s special adviser, Kehinde Bamigbetan with an earlier response titled “In Nigeria’s Mining Sector, The Law Is No Respecter of Persons.”
He stated that the Federal Government has no legal or contractual relationship with any company known as Jupiter Lithium, stressing that Nigerian law prohibits the issuance of mining licences to foreign companies.
According to the ministry, the dispute arose from the enforcement of existing regulations, which led to the revocation of mineral titles held by Basin Mining Ltd, a Nigerian company linked to an Australian national.
The revocation, Tomori said, followed due notice and was based on the company’s failure to pay statutory annual service fees for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, amounting to N2.494bn across five mineral titles.
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He rejected claims that the revoked licences were reassigned to a Chinese firm, describing the assertion as fabricated.
The ministry also alleged that the individual involved operates through multiple companies to acquire mineral licences without carrying out actual mining operations, thereby limiting access for serious investors.
The companies named include Comet Minerals Ltd, Basin Mining Ltd, Range Mining Ltd, Northern Numero Ltd, Sunrise Minerals Ltd and Iron Ore Mining Ltd.
Tomori also claimed that such practices have contributed to illegal mining and speculative hoarding of licences, adding that they undermine efforts to grow the sector.
He maintained that reforms under the Tinubu administration were irreversible and already attracting international interest, insisting that past practices which stalled the industry would no longer be tolerated.
The ministry urged Nigerians and the international community to disregard what it described as attempts by discredited individuals to undermine ongoing reforms, stressing that the government would not be pressured into abandoning its agenda.
Tomori said Nigeria remains open to investors willing to operate within the law, noting that incentives such as tax waivers on imported mining equipment, full repatriation of profits and other measures have been introduced to improve the ease of doing business.
Regulatory oversight of the sector, the ministry added, remains the responsibility of the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office, and all enforcement actions are carried out in line with existing laws.