March 16, (THEWILL) — The Federal Government has raised the alarm over a plan by a mining firm to embarrass Nigeria during President Bola Tinubu’s scheduled visit to the United Kingdom from March 18 to 19, 2026.
The visit is at the invitation of King Charles III, who will host the Nigerian leader at the Windsor Castle for two days. It is expected to focus on strengthening diplomatic and economic ties between both countries, including cooperation in trade, investment, security and migration.
Sounding the alarm on Sunday, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori , identified Jupiter Ltd as the mining firm behind the “plans to orchestrate a campaign of calumny against the Federal Government of Nigeria during President Bola Tinubu visit to the United Kingdom.”
According to Tomori, the issue in contention is the strict application of regulations governing the mining sector, which necessitated the revocation of mineral titles belonging to a Nigerian company, Basin Mining Ltd, fronted by an Australian national named Mr Davis.
The revocation, he said, was done after due notice was served on the company in line with extant laws on default in the payment of annual service fees.
Earlier in the week, Jupiter Limited had alleged that the Federal Government had seized the British Lithium Project under its management by armed guards.
In a swift reaction, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Solid Minerals, Kehinde Bamigbetan, responded in a piece titled, “In Nigeria’s Mining Sector, The Law Is No Respecter of Persons,” and exposed what he called the antics of one Steve Davis and Hamish MacDonald, whose deceitful enterprise in the mining sector eventually met the full weight of the law.
“We made it unequivocally clear that the allegations are baseless and unfounded. The Federal Government, through the Ministry and the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office (NMCO), has no legal or contractual relationship with any company known as Jupiter Lithium, as the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA 2007) expressly prohibits the granting of mining licences to foreign companies,” he said, adding that, “hence, the mineral titles were revoked due to failure to pay statutory annual service fees amounting to Two Billion, Four Hundred and Ninety-Four Million Naira (₦2,494,000,000) for mineral titles 45454ML, 45117ML, 45118ML, 40532ML, and 40533ML for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.”
Continuing, Tomori further said that Jupiter, though unknown to the mining authorities, “peddled falsehoods by claiming that its titles were revoked in favour of a Chinese firm. This is a complete fabrication.”
He said that instead of adhering to Nigerian mining laws, Davis would rather operate surreptitiously as a mining speculator who sets up companies to acquire mineral titles and short change the nation.
He argued that Davis compounded his alleged fraudulent activities by setting up six companies where he acted as a director and held several licences until the law caught up with one of the companies from defaulting on statutory obligations.
“Such practices worsen Nigeria’s challenge of illegal mining, as speculators obtain licences without undertaking actual mining operations, thereby denying serious investors with genuine capital the opportunity to develop the sector. The nefarious activities of the past that stunted the growth of the mining sector will no longer be tolerated by the Tinubu administration. Ongoing reforms that have repositioned the sector and attracted growing global interest have come to stay,” he said.
He contended that Jupiter Ltd’s ultimate aim to intimidate and blackmail the Federal Government of Nigeria into abandoning reforms and taint the Ministry’s record and commitment to transforming the mining sector into a major contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would not be allowed, adding that Nigeria remains open to serious investors who are willing to operate within the framework of our laws and regulations.
“To encourage responsible investment, the government has introduced incentives such as tax waivers on imported mining equipment, full repatriation of profits, and other measures aimed at enhancing the ease of doing business in the sector,” he said.
Meanwhile, a group on Sunday set up a London Secretariat to begin preparations for the historic state visit of Nigeria’s First Family.
Programme Director of the group, Hon. Tosin Olayinka said the state visit secretariat, would operate from London Hilton, Crystal Palace Suite, Second Floor, London Hilton on Park Lane, and become fully operational from 5:00 PM on Sunday, March 15, 2026 to Friday, March 20, 2026, serving as the central coordination hub for its activities during the historic visit.
The group has set up a 6-member Central Committee for the state visit with five sub-committees comprising the media, crowd management, mobilisation and miscellaneous and strategic outreach and dignitaries’ relations.
Mr Olayinka noted that although the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom is the sole diplomatic authority for the state visit, community leaders and members of the Nigerian Diaspora are playing a supportive role to assist the mission in making the visit proceed smoothly.
At this important moment, *we also wish to appeal to Nigerians across the United Kingdom and beyond to set aside political, ethnic and ideological differences and come together in unity. Occasions such as this transcend partisan lines,” he said.
Also, authorities in the United Kingdom have announced temporary airspace restrictions and enhanced security arrangements around Windsor ahead of the state visit.
According to Thames Valley Police, extensive planning is underway to ensure the safety of dignitaries, residents and visitors during the high-profile engagement. The security operation will include temporary airspace restrictions over Windsor from 7:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on March 18.
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