Nigeria needs $200bn for gas infrastructure

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has revealed that Nigeria must invest $200 billion in gas infrastructure to harness its natural gas potential fully.

The disclosure was made in Abuja on Monday, during a session with the Senate’s committee on Public accounts, where the country’s status as the ninth-largest gas producer in the world and the leading producer in Africa came to the fore.

Meanwhile, the Senate, through its Committee on Public Accounts, has expressed dissatisfaction over the solid minerals sector’s contribution of less than 1% to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a situation; the committee described as unacceptable.

During the presentation of NEITI’s 2021–2023 reports on oil, gas, and solid minerals to the Senate panel, the agency’s Executive Secretary, Ogbonnaya Orji, emphasized the urgent need for gas infrastructure development.

“Based on NEITI’s findings, Nigeria needs to invest at least $20 billion per year into gas infrastructure for a period of ten years,” he stated.

He drew a comparison with Qatar, noting, “The only thing that Qatar Energy does is gas processing through required infrastructure.

“So, in Nigeria, what we need is to invest in gas infrastructure to evacuate gas. Our study shows that we need an initial investment of $20 billion annually for 10 years to be able to generate the kind of gas infrastructure required to provide gas for the whole of Africa and beyond.

“This, of course, will require the construction of gas pipelines along and across the West African sub-region and beyond, which is a huge expenditure,” he added.

When questioned about the alleged $8.5 billion unremitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in 2023, Dr. Orji stated that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is already investigating the matter.

He further acknowledged that the solid minerals sector is failing to generate substantial revenue for the country, with annual earnings contributing less than 1% to the GDP.

Unhappy with NEITI’s revelations, the committee’s chairman and members challenged the report’s reflection on the state of the solid minerals sector.

They questioned why certain states, including Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Plateau, and Bauchi, were omitted from the report, despite their known mineral activities, while states like Ogun, Osun, Kogi, Edo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross River, and the Federal Capital Territory were mentioned.

Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed, Chairman of the Committee, criticized the sector’s low contribution, stating. “This definitely must not continue; there must be a complete overhaul of the sector.”