Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has outlined several accomplishments of his administration in the mining sector from 2022 to the present, asserting that his government did not sell any mining licence but rather consolidated and expanded state assets in the industry.
Response to Allegations
In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Mining and Mineral Matters, Professor Lukuman Adekilekun Jimoda, the governor responded to allegations that the state government had sold some mining licences. He criticised the Osun chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for neglecting the sector while in power and detailed the strategies implemented to revitalise the sector after years of neglect.
Findings of the Solid Mineral Committee
Upon assuming office in 2022, Governor Adeleke established a Solid Mineral Committee to comprehensively assess the state of mineral resources in Osun. The committee's findings revealed that all inherited licences were burdened with accumulated service charges that the previous administration had failed to pay. The report also noted that the former government could not account for revenue generated by a company named Hoffman and Danger, to which all miners in the state reported. No payments were made into the state government's treasury.
The statement further revealed that the previous administration knew that August 9, 2023, was the expiry date for certain licences but did not pay service charges or prepare for the conversion from exploration leases to mining leases. Additionally, assets with Segilola Resources Operating Limited, worth billions of naira in assets, dividends, and taxes, were abandoned, denying the state substantial returns.
Revival and Expansion of the Mining Sector
The Adeleke administration revived and expanded the mining sector by preventing the imminent loss of inherited mining licences due to non-payment of renewal fees by the Oyetola administration. The governor did not sell a single cadastral unit from the assets inherited from the previous government. He is actively working towards converting all eight joint ventures inherited from the Oyetola government.
Progress recorded in the mining sector includes securing shareholding from Segilola Resources Operation Limited worth approximately seven billion naira. Dividends amounting to 64,000 Canadian Dollars are being paid by Thor Exploration Limited every three months from January 2025 to date. Tax collections have reached 1.7 billion naira, compared to less than 50 million naira collected during the previous administration. Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from alluvial mining, artisanal mining, and other activities has improved tremendously.
The IGR generated in April 2023 alone exceeded the total IGR generated in the entire year of 2022 under former Governor Oyetola. Governor Adeleke did not sell any licence. The current mining sector is characterised by increased IGR, environmentally friendly operations, and excellent capacity building.
Steps Taken for Licence Conversion
The governor paid all accumulated service charges around April or May 2023, and the state government has continued to make payments. The government immediately began processes for applying for the conversion of all exploration leases to mining leases. Environmental auditing was conducted by NESREA as a condition for conversion. Consent letters were obtained from paramount rulers and land owners for the conversion. The government also acquired certificates to operate Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation Programs. These three conditions took until June or July 2023.
An application for conversion was submitted on August 2, 2023. However, the cadastral units of the exploration leases ranged from 800 to 960 units, while the new submission model at the Cadastral Office can only accommodate a maximum of 250 cadastral units. The exploration leases, purchased from the Nigerian Mining Corporation through the Bureau of Public Enterprises, were broken down into three to four mining leases depending on their size. Applications were prepared for 39 mining leases across exploration leases that were about to expire. A total of 11 mining leases were accepted for processing, with the remaining applications still pending.
