On Monday, Adeleke announced that all companies mining gold in the state would henceforth pay 13 per cent of their profit into the state coffers.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has ordered mining companies operating under the licence of the state government to suspend their activities immediately.
The governor’s spokesman, Rasheed Olawale, said in a statement on Wednesday that the directive was to enable the government to review the Memorandum of Understanding entered into with the mining firms by the Oyetola administration.
“In furtherance of his bid to reform the state’s Solid Mineral Sector, Governor Ademola Adeleke has directed immediate suspension of all mining firms operating the state’s mining licenses,” Mr Olawale said.
He stressed that the suspension will be till further notice.
“The suspension of the operators is to remain in force until the conclusion of the ongoing review of the MOU between the state as the owner of the licenses and the operators.”
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He also ordered owners of the mining companies to present copies of the MoU given to them by the previous administration.
“All operators are to report to the Committee on Assets Verification and Recovery chaired by Dr B.T Salami with copies of their Memorandum of Understanding which governs their relationship with the state government,” he added.
“All operators are to report to the committee on Monday by 12 p.m.”
On Monday, Adeleke announced that all companies mining gold in the state would henceforth pay 13 per cent of their profit into the state coffers.
He said for the past 25 years, records showed that none of the mining companies in the state paid their dividends to the state.
