The Ebonyi State Government has called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s mining laws to empower state and local governments, as well as host communities, to exercise greater control over mineral exploration and exploitation.
The state said that the existing legal framework undermines local accountability, constrains investment and exposes communities to environmental hazards.
The Commissioner for Solid Minerals Development, Chief Chinedu Nkah stated this while addressing journalists in Abakaliki as part of activities marking the 2026 Mining Week, observed from October 12 to 14.
Nkah argued that the current framework, which places mining licences largely under the control of the federal government, limited the capacity of subnational authorities and host communities to regulate mining activities and hold operators accountable for their environmental and social responsibilities.
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He advocated a shift in the constitutional stipulation of mining powers from the exclusive legislative list to the residual legislative list.
The shift would give states, local governments and communities greater authority to regulate the sector.
“The mining sector needs to be seen from the community to the federal level, not the other way round,” the commissioner said.
According to him, the existing arrangement allows investors to obtain mining licences through the federal cadastral system without adequate involvement of state and local authorities, thereby creating jurisdictional conflicts and weakening accountability at the grassroots.
He maintained that a reformed legal framework would make mining operators more responsive to host communities, particularly in the areas of environmental protection, workers’ welfare, infrastructure development and compliance with Community Development Agreements (CDAs).
Nkah said abandoned mining pits has become a serious safety concern in some parts of the state, noting that operators sometimes extracted minerals and left excavation sites without adequately reclaiming the land.
He warned that such practices exposed residents to avoidable accidents, including the risk of people and vehicles falling into abandoned pits.
The commissioner argued that mining companies would be more accountable to affected communities if state and local authorities had stronger regulatory powers and a more direct role in the licensing and monitoring processes.
