Economy
FG Orders BUA to Stop Mining Operations on Disputed Site
By Dipo Olowookere
BUA Group has been directed by Federal Government to vacate and stop mining activities in the disputed location within Mining Lease No 2541ML.
The order was conveyed in a letter from the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development with Reference number: MMSD/MID/OP/RS.71/1/ and addressed to BUA’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The letter revealed that the outcome of the FG’s investigation confirms that BUA was indeed engaging in illegal mining of marble/limestone at the site and that “clarification provided by the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) shows that the coordinates of the Mine pit and ROM stockpile area fall wholly within the area of Mining Lease No.2541ML belonging to Messrs Dangote Industries Limited.”
The letter further stated that: “The investigation further confirms that your company is carrying out the mining activities at the locality without any valid mining lease granted by this Ministry under the watch of armed military officers and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).”
The letter, recalling that a similar letter of such had earlier been written to the company in December 2015 with reference number: MMSD/MID/OP/754/1 without compliance, insisted that the present stop order now issued must be obeyed.
“Consequently upon the foregoing therefore, your company is hereby ordered to immediately stop all mining activities at the identified spot and any other part of the area of the 2541ML, evacuate all your mining machineries/equipment and vacate the mine site. This order is issued in accordance with the provisions of section 146(4) of the Act,” the letter read.
It would be recalled that the management of Dangote Group recently accused BUA of engaging in illegal mining of limestone deposited in its Mining Lease No. 2541.
Dangote’s Executive Director, Mr Devakumar Edwin, who then addressed the Press frowned at the media war, instigated by BUA against the Dangote Group, over a matter which is already pending before the Federal High Court, Benin Division.
Mr Edwin revealed that, “Dangote Group validly acquired its interest and mining title in the disputed Mining Lease No. 2541 from AICO Ado Ibrahim & Company Ltd sometime in 2014. AICO itself had applied to the Mining Cadastre Office and Ministry of Mines and Steel Development for the said Mining Lease No. 2541 located in a boundary town of Oguda/Ubo in Okene Kogi State in 2007.
“The Ministry in exercise of its power under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 granted and issued to AICO ML. No. 2541 for the renewable period of 25 years effective from 1st February 2008 and to expire on 31 January, 2033.
“Thus, AICO by virtue of the said grant, became vested with the legal title over ML. No. 2541. In 2014, the Dangote Group approached AICO and indicated interest in acquiring AICO’s stake in ML No. 2541.
“In 2014, AICO in exercise of its right under the Mining Act, applied to the Ministry for the transfer of its title in the ML No. 2541 to Dangote Group. AICO and Dangote Group equally paid all the transfer and statutory fees demanded by the Ministry.”
He further explained that, “By a letter dated 05 February 2016, the Ministry wrote to the Managing Director of the Dangote Group to convey the approval of the Ministry for the Transfer/Assignment of ML No. 2541 from AICO to Dangote Group with effect from 03 February 2016. Following the successful transfer of ML. NO. 2541 to Dangote Group, the Group became the holder of the Mining Lease No. 2541.”
Mr Edwin also said, “It is therefore appalling that BUA Group in the midst of these overwhelming facts, is still accusing us of waging a campaign of calumny against its company… The Chairman of BUA, Samad Rabiu is simply a lachrymose- a man who sheds pretentious tears like crocodile.
“This action of his is most laughable and a total distraction from BUA’s continuous illegal activities within Dangote’s ML 2541 aimed at depleting and exhausting the limestone reserves in order to sabotage Dangote Group’s legitimate investment.”
He said even BUA in its process in Court acknowledged that these illegal mining leases which it claimed were granted in 1997 were temporary mining leases.
Mr Edwin also recalled that the then Minister for Solid Minerals under Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, Dr Oby Ezekwesili sometime in 2006 waded into the dispute and invited the managements of Edo Cement Company Limited and AICO Ado Ibrahim & Company Limited for a meeting and that in the course of the meeting the then Minister again queried the legality of Mining Lease Nos 18912 and 18913 and the power of the Governor of Edo State to grant such mining leases.
“At the end of the meeting, the Minister declared the Edo Cement’s Mining Leases Nos. 18912 and 18913 illegal and declared the mining site open for interested investors. Given that AICO’s then existing Mining Lease No. 17825 was yet to be renewed even though application for renewal was pending, AICO in 2007 (under the Mining Act, 2007) applied for the fresh Mining Lease No. 2541 and the Ministry granted it in 2008 without any objection from Edo Cement Company,” Mr Edwin said AICO, who sold the right to Dangote, continued its mining operations in the Mining Lease No. 2541 undisturbed until BUA Group acquired Edo Cement Company Limited and resuscitated the dispute again.
Mr Edwin further revealed that it was the attempt by BUA to encroach on AICO’s mining title in Mining Lease No. 2541 that prompted AICO to write to the Ministry in 2015 complaining of BUA’s encroachment.
He said: “The Ministry after investigation in the same 2015 by the letter dated 21 January 2015 wrote to the Chairman of BUA Group directing BUA to stop mining within the ML. No. 2541. It was this same letter from the Ministry that prompted BUA to file a Suit at the Federal High Court Benin in 2016.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell further by 0.63 per cent on Wednesday, August 13 after closing with two price losers led by Okitipupa Plc and Mixta Real Estate Plc.
Okitipupa Plc lost N21.05 during the session to end at N216.19 per share versus N237.24 per share and Mixta Real Estate Plc declined by 54 Kobo to trade at N5.52 per unit compared with the previous day’s price of N6.06 per unit.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the bourse decreased by N13.65 billion to close at N2.149 trillion, in contrast to the N2.162 trillion quoted at the preceding session, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) shrank by 22.81 points to 3,591.88 points from the previous day’s 3,614.69 points.
Business Post reports that the market ended with three price gainers during the session led by Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc, which gained 30 Kobo to settle at N3.38 per share versus N3.08 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc appreciated by 5 Kobo to end at 53 Kobo per unit compared with the previous day’s 48 Kobo per unit, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 1 Kobo to finish at N3.11 per share versus N3.10 per share.
There was a 61.3 per cent slide in the volume of securities to 12.3 million units from 31.9 million units, just as the number of deals went down by 21.6 per cent to 29 deals from 37 deals, while the value of securities rose by 715.5 per cent to N925.6 million from N113.5 million.
Okitipupa Plc finished the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 158.6 million units valued at N5.9 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 43.8 million units valued at N1.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis remained IGI Plc with 1.1 billion units worth N369.1 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units valued at N524.8 million, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units traded for N4.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira moved in different directions at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, August 13, appreciating against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment and depreciating in the parallel market window.
In the black market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the greenback during the session to settle at N1,560/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,555/$1.
However, in the official market, it gained N2.47 or 0.16 per cent on the Dollar to close at N1,534.91/$1, in contrast to the N1,537.38/$1 it was traded at on Tuesday.
Sadly, in the spot market, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N8.91 to sell for N2,082.45/£1 versus the preceding session’s N2,073.54/£1 and lost N4.57 against the Euro to settle at N1,796.21/€1 compared with the N1,791.64/€1 it was transacted a day earlier.
Pressure eased in the market as updated FX data showed external reserves increased further, settling at $40.229 billion, marking this is the first time since January that reserves have crossed the $40 billion threshold.
This buildup likely reflects sustained Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows and a recent surge in non-bank corporates, which indicates that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) can continue to back the Naira as expected.
As for the crypto market, it was up as investors eye the Federal Reserve going for a 25 basis point cut in the September meeting as pressure is ramping up on policymakers to consider deeper easing.
The US central bank has been reluctant to cut interest rates, but investors see the possibility as crypto could likely gain if it happens, barring any other factors.
Cardano (ADA) surged by 16.9 per cent to $0.9849, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 4.5 per cent to $204.76, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 4.2 per cent to $0.2452, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 2.5 per cent to $4,736.21, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 2.4 per cent to $855.49, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 2.0 per cent to $121,602.01, and Ripple (XRP) increased by 0.9 per cent to $3.24.
But, Litecoin (LTC) closed lower by 0.7 per cent to $129.84 during the trading day, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited surrendered its control to the bears on Wednesday, closing lower by 0.13 per cent when trading activities ended for the day.
The decline was influenced by profit-taking in most of the sectors, despite the insurance and the energy indices closing green by 7.94 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.
It was observed that the consumer goods space lost 0.91 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.53 per cent, and the industrial goods counter went down by 0.33 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 191.09 points to 145,864.80 points from 146,055.89 points and the market capitalisation moderated by N121 billion to N92.284 trillion from N92.405 trillion.
Sell-offs in large-cap stocks like GTCO, Zenith Bank, Lafarge Africa, Nigerian Breweries and others caused the downfall of Customs Street yesterday as the market breadth index remained positive and investor sentiment still strong after closing with 53 price gainers and 21 price losers.
Thomas Wyatt lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N3.42, UPDC slipped by 7.94 per cent to N8.00, Legend Internet tumbled by 6.35 per cent to N5.60, Berger Paints slumped by 6.16 per cent to N32.00, and Champion Breweries depreciated by 5.75 per cent to N16.38.
On the flip side, Learn Africa, Tripple Gee, Prestige Assurance, FTN Cocoa, and Caverton gained 10.00 per cent each to finish at N7.70, N5.17, N2.42, N6.93, and N7.92 apiece.
A total of 1.3 billion shares worth N20.2 billion were traded in 30,749 deals at midweek versus the 1.3 billion shares valued at N24.3 billion transacted in 31,155 deals in the preceding session, showing a shortfall in the trading value and number of deals by 16.87 per cent and 1.30 per cent apiece, as the trading volume remained unchanged.
Universal Insurance topped the activity chart after it sold 193.4 million units for N282.4 million, Japaul traded 123.2 million units worth N390.0 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 93.2 million units valued at N260.1 million, Access Holdings transacted 85.0 million units worth N2.4 billion, and Sterling Holdings traded 68.2 million units valued at N552.6 million.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology5 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN