President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that Nigeria will strengthen its position as regional leader in the oil and gas industry, even as he said that his administration will spare no effort in ensuring maximum benefit from the nation’s huge natural resources.
Speaking at the virtual inauguration of the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre (NOGEC) at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) headquarters, Lagos, President Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Femi Adesina, pledged that the federal government will continue to leverage oil and gas for development and pursue economic diversification across all sectors.
“You will recall that at the beginning of this administration, we set a clear roadmap for the oil and gas sector in order to increase value from the nation’s huge resource potentials and create opportunities for investors, both local and foreign, when I declared that Nigeria is open for business. I am delighted that since then, we have witnessed major final investment decisions in the sector such as the AKK Pipeline project, the NLNG Train-7 project, and the completion of the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery.
“Our renewed drive for economic diversification using the oil and gas industry as a pivot remains on track as we expand government revenues and deploy it to grow our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), generate employment and contribute to eliminating poverty in Nigeria.”