A socio-cultural group, Odinala Cultural Foundation -OCHIE Igbo, has written to the National Assembly, demanding the inclusion of South-East and South-South in the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Project and National Gas Masterplan.
In a letter titled; “Request for the Inclusion of the Southeast and South – South Regions in the Nigeria Gas Expansion Program (NGEP): Request for Partnership” the group called for a review of the AKK, NGEP and NGMP for the inclusion of Southeast and South-South Regions.
“Having noticed the conspiratorial neglect of the Southeast in the multi-million dollar AKK Gas Pipeline Project, NGEP and the National Gas Masterplan, which runs from Kogi State through Kaduna, Kano and Niger Republic, OCHIE Igbo is leading a coalition of Civil Society & Human Rights Organizations, Security and Safety groups under the auspices of Coalition for the Defense & Economic Development of the Southeast (CODEDOSE), to champion a review of the AKK, NGEP and NGMP for the inclusion of Southeast and South-South Regions” rhe group said.
A statement on Saturday, co-signed by Okoro Chinedum Benedict,
Chairman, Board of Trustees, and Dr. Chukwuma Ogugua Orji,
National President,
OCHIE Igbo,
disclosed that available facts showed that the National Gas Survey Plan (NGSP) situates substantial gas deposits in the Niger Delta, Enugu, Imo and Abia States.
“We are therefore miffed that the Southeast was deliberately schemed out of any direct participation or derivable benefits from the National Gas Masterplan (NGMP).
“Conversely, there is no known and exploitable natural gas along the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano axis of the natural gas pipeline which President Buhari commissioned on June 30, 2020” Okoro stated.
OCHIE-Igbo said the force of
it’s argument rests on the fact that given the volume of gas deposit in the Southeast and South-South, it was implausible that these two Regions were excluded from such an expansive developmental project.
Therefore, the group demanded that the policy introducing the NGEP be reviewed and further expanded to accommodate the Southeast and South-South Regions.
“That a Gas Power Plant of about 1,000, 000 cubic liters’ capacity be headquartered at Imo State, as the backbone of an Industrial Park in the Region. This could power emergent industries with steady energy and serve as economic indemnity for the Southeast people.
“That the quantum of Gas deposit in the Southeast is sufficient enough to serve as an insurance to the Nigerian Senate and Federal Government to pass and assent to the Bill seeking the establishment of the Southeast Development Commission (SEDC) and a Ministry for Southeast Affairs.
“To persuade the authorities to ensure that the Gas headquarters is sited in our region, which has the capacity to exploit about 1, 000, 000 cubic liters of LPG, LNG and CNG and other ancillary business that will yield greater income to the Federal Government, which is the primary reason for the NGEP” the group stated.
In view of the foregoing, OCHIE-Igbo is seeking the partnership in or advocacy for the inclusion of Southeast and South – South geopolitical zone in the National Gas Plan.
“Subject to your convenience, we would appreciate an audience for further elaboration” Okoro stated.
The letter dated November 27, 2023, was addressed to Sen. Agom Jarigbe,
Chairman,
Senate Committee on Gas, and also copied to Senator Goodwill Akpabio (Senate President),
Tajudeen Abbas, (Speaker HoR),
Benjamin Kalu (Deputy Speaker HoR),
Heineken (Min. of State for Petroleum),
Ekperikpe Ekpo (Min. of State for Petroleum),
Imo Ugochinyere (HoR Committee Chair on Petroleum)
Nicholas Mutu (HoR Committee Chair on Gas Resources).
