By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said yesterday that Nigeria would need to inject $200bn into the gas infrastructure to maximize its natural resource production as the ninth-highest gas producer in the World and number one in Africa.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this in his 2021-2023 reports on Oil, Gas, and Solid Minerals, which were presented to the Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed.
He said the required infrastructure for the maximisation of gas resources in the country is not there.
This is because the Senate panel declared that the less than one percent annual contribution of proceeds from solid minerals to GDP was not acceptable.
Ogbonnaya Orji said, “Based on NEITI’s findings, Nigeria needs to invest at least $20bn per year into gas infrastructure for ten years.
“The only thing Qatar Energy does is process gas through the required infrastructure. So, in Nigeria, we need to invest in gas infrastructure to evacuate gas. Our study shows that we need an initial investment of $20bn annually for 10 years to generate the kind of gas infrastructure required to provide gas for Africa and beyond.
“This, of course, will require the construction of gas pipelines along and across West African sub-region and beyond, which is a huge expenditure,” he said
The Senate panel asked him what NEITI would do regarding the alleged $8.5bn that Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Federal Inland Revenue Service, and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission did not remit into the consolidated revenue fund in 2023.
*As Senate rejects 1% solid minerals contribution to GDP
The NEITI boss said the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) was already probing the agencies involved.
However, he added that the Solid Minerals sector is not providing the country with the desired revenue as the sector’s yearly proceeds are less than 1% of GDP.
The Chairman and members of the committee were not satisfied by the submission.
They said NEITI’s report on solid minerals did not reflect what is happening in the solid mineral sector.
They wondered why the report mentioned only Ogun, Osun, Kogi, Edo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross Rivers states, and the Federal Capital Territory, leaving out Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Plateau, and Bauchi, among others.
Specifically, the Chairman of the Committee, Wadada, described the contribution of solid minerals to GDP as less than one percent ridiculous and unacceptable.
“This definitely must not continue; there must be a complete overhaul of the sector,” he said.
