According to the Special Adviser (Mining and Mineral Matters) to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Professor Lukuman Jimoda, "It is no longer a news item that Osun State has a genuine Legacy Ownership Dispute with Segilola Resources Operating Limited (Segilola) and its latest owner, Thor Explorations Ltd (Thor). Osun State have always had interests in the sector since 1993 and the asset company, then, was Tropical Mines Ltd. We had earlier made our submission to your Ministry ( Ministry of Solid Minerals Development) on the historical commercial transaction, in which our interest in Tropical Mines Ltd was stripped by Segilola and was subsequently acquired by Thor in 2016; so, where is Osun state shares?"
I will return to the above submission of the Osun State Government to the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, affirming that Osun State had business partnership with Pineridge Limited ( which became Tropical Mines Limited later), a mining company owned by Folorunsho Adeoye and Kayode Aderinokun, two bosom friends of Dr Deji Adeleke. The two miners were serving in the government of Isiaka Adeleke in the early 1990s when Osun State reportedly invested significantly in the company. If Osun truly invested in Tropical Mines, it was a good thing that the state diversified her investment then, but why channeling it through the allies of Governor Isiaka Adeleke and Dr Deji Adeleke, who were serving in the government?
Media was awash last week when the report of the Federal Government's committee on Osun State - Segilola dispute was made public. And since that time, officials of the state government have been firing from all cylinders, concocting lies and curating misleading contents to deceive the public about the true recommendation of the report. The Adeleke government has failed to inform the public that the state government came back almost empty handed as it did not achieve the aim of launching media onslaught on the mining company, particularly on the scurrilous shareholding claim.
Recall the state government, acting on the fact-finding report of a financial rabble rouser and former Commissioner of Finance in the state, Mr Wale Bolorunduro, had outlined the following claims against Segilola totaling N92.5 billion:
1. N25 billion cash payments concerning shareholding with Tropical Mines Limited related to the issuance of shares for Thor Exploration Limited.
2. N10 billion for financial consideration applicable to co-owners of TML/Thor
3. N36.8 billion for a portion of the return royalty due to TML.
4. Allegations of encroachment concerning licensed areas EL1915/EL18834
5. A claim of N3.2 billion for outstanding taxes, including withholding tax, PAYE underpayment and other levies
6. A demand for N7.5 billion for environment related payments.
7. Haulage fee of N10 billion for solid mineral haulage fees
8. 21.5% claims of shares in TML/Thor.
9. $1.3 million claim of post-closing payments to the TML and other shareholders in 2016 on acquisition of the Gold Project.
Of the above claims of the Osun State Government, none was found credible by the FG Committee. The controversial 5.1 million shareholding ceded to the state by Thor and which the Adeleke government is bandying around as an achievement of its media war over the months is a trojan horse and a smokescreen to cover the ostensibly generational scam perpetrated in the Third Republic by the Isiaka Adeleke government. I will explain this very shortly.
A look at the report will, no doubt, confirm that the Adeleke government went to the FG Committee unprepared as the committee found many of the allegations against Segilola puerile, pedestrian and malicious. In fact, the committee identified the so-called fact-finding report of Wale Bolorunduro, upon which the state government went to war with the mining company, as one of the likely drivers of the disputes between the state government and Segilola.
According to the report, the Osun State's claim for the sum of N7.5 billion as levies for environment failed irredeemably as there were no basis for the claim. The report also states that there was no evidence before the committee of any environment pollution on the part of Segilola. It also adds that from the exhibits "provided by Osun State, there is evidence that Segilola had paid the sum of N32.5 million to Osun State for environment level from 2022 to 2024, revealing that the decision of the state government to charge levies retroactively and arbitrarily from 2019 contributed significantly to the conflict. However, the report advises that the state government should revise its environment protection law to "include specific environment levies to be paid rather than allowing discretion to relevant state agencies."
If the above are not scathing remarks attesting to the lack of coordination and focus of the Adeleke government, then consider these other parts of the report.
The Committee appeals to President Bola Tinubu to direct the Osun State government "to stop undue interference in mining matters in order not to truncate the effort of the Federal Government in making the mining sector thrive in Nigeria and a major contributor to the nation's GDP."
The report points that the incessant shutting down of the Segilola operation by the Adeleke government "is a major setback to the efforts of the federal government in creating the necessary conducive environment for mining to prosper" as it portrays Osun as a hostile state to invest.
The report also indicts the state government for frustrating the committee's effort to resolve some of the knotty issues through an alternative mediation channel, explaining that the government weaponized the process, turning it to "issuing threats and press statements on the committee's proceeding," an action which effectively killed confidential disclosures and the environment for conducive reconcilation.
The foregoing verdict of the FG Committee cast doubt on the leadership of Governor Adeleke and his capacity to defend the economic interest of the state. Now, let me return to the most scandalous aspect of the report: the claim on shareholding.
During the investigation, the government of Osun made presentation to the committee regarding its claim about part ownership in Segilola. Specifically, the state government made representation contending that Osun invested in Tropical Mines Limited's exploration and development up until September 2016 when the state was strategically annihilated in the transformational acquisition. Similarly, the state clearly held that the government at the time did not approve the scheme or the investments that led to the establishment of Segilola and its current operations.
The questions are, how did the state government invest in TML's exploration and development up to 2016? Did the investment start in 1993 as highlighted by Governor Adeleke's Adviser on mining in his presentation to the FG committee? If NO, when did the investment start ? How much did the state government invest? Governor Adeleke is urged to provide answers to the foregoing questions given that his late elder brother has been accused of investing Osun's money in the hideous venture which from all indications seemy now a waste of public resources.
The good-spirited citizens of Osun State should hold the governor to account for how the state was cheated out of the business arrangement, settled with negligible 5.1 million shares when Mr Folorunsho Adeoye and Chief Kayode Aderinokun, who allegedly begged Osun to invest in their venture over 30 years ago, now have a combined shares of 44.5 million in Thor. That the Adeleke government went to the FG committee poorly prepared and with no evidence, as the report affirms, should not foreclose the public from knowing what went wrong as to the Pineridge/Tropical Mines/Segilola/Thor Exploration deal. The public need to know why Tropical Mines received a cash of $1.3 million (valued N2 billion today) post-closing payments and Osun did not receive one Kobo!
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