For its energy transformation, Nigeria needs an additional $410 million, according to a minister.
According to Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Nigeria has to spend $410 billion more than normal by 2060 to complete its energy transformation strategy.
When opening the seventh meeting of the National Council on Hydrocarbons (NCH), which had as its topic “Roadmap and Strategic Option Towards Achieving Energy Transition in Nigeria,” the minister made this declaration.
The weekend event was organized in Minna by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Niger State government.
Sylva asserts that energy is essential for practically all aspects of development, noting that life expectancy is closely tied to per capita energy consumption.
The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Amb. Gabriel Aduda, said that Nigeria must solve its energy challenges and that doing so would need flexible policies.
According to Sylva, the Federal Government unveiled the energy transition plan on August 24, 2022, with the goal of raising the funds necessary to begin implementing the plan. The plan showed the country’s pathway to achieving net zero emissions by 2060 and Nigeria’s leadership role in enabling a just and equitable climate future for Africa.
However, he advised the attendees to use the occasion to build on the choices made at the last council meeting, which was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in 2021.
The Federal Government was urged by the governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, to take into account building a platform (gas terminals/pumping stations) within the state for the Ajaokuta/Kaduna/Kano gas pipeline project that would pass through it.
Bello explained that the platform would support the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Garam Industrial Park, and Baro Port, which has the potential to increase economic activity along the Kogi/Niger/Kaduna corridor for the Federal Government’s industrialization drive, especially given that Niger is one of the pioneer states implementing the National Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) expansion plan.
The governor confirmed that economically viable hydrocarbon was present in the state while speaking via Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Ahmed Matane.
The Bida Basin has hydrocarbons, according to preliminary state and federal government studies. The state administration collaborated with Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL), in order to investigate and capitalize on the hydrocarbon prospects in the Bida Basin. The results, according to Bello, have been outstanding.
