Buhari backing reforms in oil sector with actions – APC group


A voluntary think-tank group of the All Progressives Congress, known as APC Legacy Awareness and Campaign (APC-LAC) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is backing long overdue efficiency and transparency to the management of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources with action.

The group added that the President will not slow down or relent in his efforts to transform the NNPC.

In a statement signed Tuesday in Abuja, by the leaders of the group; Barr. Ismail Ahmed, Lanre Issa-Onilu, Tolu Ogunlesi and Salihu Moh. Lukman, said one of the many transformational legacies that will be associated with Buhari’s administration will be the rebirth of the National Oil Company, and a repositioning that will set it on the path to becoming a world-class institution.

“The President’s promise to bring long overdue efficiency and transparency to the management of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources is being backed by action. And the journey has only just started. President Buhari will not slow down or relent in his NNPC reform efforts.

“One of the many transformational legacies that will be associated with his administration will be the rebirth of the National Oil Company, and a repositioning that will set it on the path to becoming a world-class institution.

The statement listed some of the achievements of APC-led administration to include: “Published Audited Financial Statements for 2018, 2019 and 2020. This is the first published Audited Financial Statements since the NNPC came into existence 43 years ago.

“Commenced clearing the backlog of Cash Call arrears owed International Oil Companies (IOCs), inherited from previous administrations, and amounting to more than five billion dollars.

“Completed the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) Phase 2, doubling its capacity to 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas.

“Commenced construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas pipeline, Nigeria’s biggest-ever domestic gas pipeline project.

“Commenced the total revamp of the Port Harcourt refinery – yet another industry jinx being broken.

“Resolved a 12-year-old dispute surrounding (Oil Mining Licence) OML 118, unlocking more than $10 billion of potential investment held up by the dispute.

“Completed and commissioned an integrated gas handling facility at Oredo, Edo State, which, in addition to producing 84 million cubic feet (mmcf) per day of lean gas (for power generation), will be the largest onshore LPG plant in Nigeria, producing an estimated 330 tonnes per day.

“Co-invested with the private sector in the incorporation of a 600-million standard cubic feet (mscf) Gas Processing Plant in Imo State, a Biofuels Company in Ondo State, and a 10,000 tonnes per day Methanol Plant in Bayelsa State; among others.

“Successfully taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to introduce an aggressive cost reduction and optimization program that has helped return an unprecedented profit of N287 billion in the 2020 Financial Year.

“The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company Limited, which is 49 percent owned by the NNPC, reached Final Investment Decision (FID) on its 7th Train, its first new Train in more than a decade.

“The crowning achievement has been the presidential assent to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), after two decades of unsuccessful attempts. With the emergence of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), a new chapter has definitely commenced in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. New industry regulatory agencies have been established, to provide the necessary oversight befitting the new status quo, and the President has received National Assembly approval for his nominees to the management teams of these new agencies. It is truly a new dawn for oil and gas in Nigeria.”