The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, on
\nMonday said Nigeria’s gas sector has the potential to create millions of
\njobs, bring about industrialisation as well as generate more revenue for
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
For these reasons, Gbajabiamila said, the country must do all it could
\nto correct all anomalies in the sector.<\/p>\n
Declaring open a public hearing on the ‘Inclusion of Gas Terms in
\nProduction Sharing Contracts (PSCs) organized by the Joint House
\nCommittee on Gas Resources, Petroleum Resources (upstream) and Petroleum
\nResources (downstream) on Tuesday at the National Assembly, the Speaker
\nsaid he believed the panel would do justice to the matter.<\/p>\n
“For too long, Nigeria’s natural gas resources have existed almost as an
\nafterthought both as a matter of policymaking and as a focus of
\ninvestment and exploration. Given the potential of natural gas for
\nindustrialisation, job creation and revenue generation for the
\ngovernment, this is a significant error that ought now to be corrected
\nwith all urgency.<\/p>\n
“It falls to this Joint Committee of the House of Representatives to
\narticulate the way forward and to do so, taking into account the
\nconcerns of all the stakeholders and the expectations of the Nigerian
\npeople.<\/p>\n
“The Public Hearing we have gathered for today is an important part of
\nthe Joint Committee’s assignment. It is also an opportunity for
\nstakeholders from across the oil and gas sector and the country to
\npresent information, and contribute ideas that will help the Joint
\nCommittee arrive at the proper conclusions and propose effective
\nsolutions.<\/p>\n
“This Public Hearing ought to have happened and the Joint Committee’s
\nassignment should have been completed long before now. However, we have
\nhad to adjust plans and make modifications to accommodate the new
\nrealities imposed due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
“Nonetheless I am certain that the assignment will shortly be completed,
\nand a report presented to the House for consideration and adoption,” he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Earlier in an opening remark, the lead chairman of the Joint Committee,
\nRep. Nicholas Mutu, who chairs the Committee on Gas Resources, said the
\npublic hearing was an opportunity to offer practical suggestions for a
\nstructured bouquet of incentives that would attract investors to the
\nsector and provide access to finance and profit-sharing.<\/p>\n
He said: “Nigeria’s enormous gas reserves demand a robust public policy
\nto drive gas development and boost the Nigerian economy, create jobs,
\nstimulate incomes for gas value-chain resources and earn revenue for the
\ngovernment.”<\/p>\n
On his part, one of the co-chairmen of the Joint Committee, Rep.
\nAbdullahi Mahmud Gaya, who heads the Committee on Petroleum
\n(downstream), thanked the Speaker for attending the event and promised
\nthat the panel would do a diligent job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Monday said Nigeria’s gas sector has the potential to create millions of jobs, bring about industrialisation as well as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n