…Dismisses claims of pro-China bias, accuses foreign-backed interests of blackmail
The Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kehinde Bamigbetan, dismissed allegations that the Federal Government was 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 strongly-worded statement titled “The Puerile Peregrination of a Serial Blackmailer,” accused activist Steve Kefas of peddling falsehoods on behalf of Jupiter, a foreign company allegedly linked to Basin Mining Limited, whose mining licences were revoked over unpaid statutory fees.
He said 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 desperate bid to pressure the Federal Government into reversing the decision.
He described allegations that the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, was favouring Chinese investors over Western companies as baseless.
The media aide said Alake had visited China only twice in three years—once alongside President Bola Tinubu on a state visit and another time to attend China Mining Week 2025 at the invitation of the Chinese government.
He argued 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.
Bamigbetan maintained 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 (NIPC) Act, which opened the economy to foreign direct investment.
He explained that the law allows both local and foreign investors to participate in Nigeria’s mining industry, provided they comply with the country’s laws.
According to him, Alake’s reforms under the ministry’s Seven-Point Agenda are aimed at strengthening regulation, promoting local mineral processing and ensuring investors add value to Nigeria’s mineral resources rather than exporting raw materials.
He said several Chinese firms had responded positively by establishing mineral processing plants in Nigeria, unlike some operators whose licences were revoked for failing to comply with regulatory requirements.
The presidential aide also traced Nigeria’s mining cooperation with China to agreements signed long before the current administration, adding that the partnership had expanded through geological mapping, technical cooperation and investment programmes.
He stressed that despite growing Chinese investments, the Federal Government continues to court investors from Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia, with over 300 Western companies currently operating across various segments of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.
Bamigbetan cited the establishment of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, the deployment of Mining Marshals, stricter enforcement of mining regulations and the inauguration of mineral processing plants as evidence that reforms under Alake were yielding results.
He insisted that no amount of media attacks or pressure from foreign interests would force the Federal Government to restore revoked mining licences.
“Defaulting companies must comply with Nigerian laws. No amount of propaganda will reverse the revocation of licences belonging to serial defaulters,” he stated.
