The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has stated that the country requires an investment of $200 billion in gas infrastructure to fully maximise its natural gas resources, as the ninth-largest gas producer globally and the top producer in Africa.
In a related development, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts has declared the annual contribution of less than 1% from solid minerals to the nation’s GDP as unacceptable.
Happening Now!!!! Interactive session with the Senate Public Accounts Committee on the contents of the NEITI 2021-2023 Oil, Gas and Solid Minerals Reports. pic.twitter.com/7eVvjwK7eK
— NEITI Nigeria (@nigeriaeiti) February 3, 2025
Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, in his 2021–2023 reports on oil, gas, and solid minerals presentation to the Public Accounts Committee chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed, said the required infrastructure for maximisation of gas resources in the country is not there.
“Based on NEITI’s findings, Nigeria needs to invest at least $20 billion per year into gas infrastructure for ten years.
“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. And 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 said.
When asked what NEITI is doing on the alleged $8.5 billion unremitted into the consolidated revenue fund by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in 2023, the NEITI boss said the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is already probing the agencies involved.
He, however, added that the solid minerals sector is not giving the country desired revenue as yearly proceeds from the sector are less than 1% of GDP.
Irked by the submission, the chairman and members of the committee said NEITI’s report on solid minerals is not reflective of what is going on in the solid mineral sector.
They wondered why only states like Ogun, Osun, Kogi, Edo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross-River, and FCT were mentioned in the report, leaving out Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Plateau, Bauchi, etc.
Specifically, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Wadada, described the less than 1% contribution of solid minerals to GDP as quite ridiculous and unacceptable.
“This definitely must not continue; there must be a complete overhaul of the sector,” he said.
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