Nigeria Should Have Earned More from Gas Than Oil, Says Buhari

Nigeria Should Have Earned More from Gas Than Oil, Says Buhari

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has lamented that Nigeria would have been earning more revenue from gas than from petroleum, if it had followed its own programme for exploiting its gas reserves.

The President made this confession yesterday when he hosted the Special Envoy of President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, at State House, Abuja.

The Special Envoy, who also doubles as Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, had brought a message from President Obiang on the forthcoming meeting of Heads of State of gas exporting nations, which Equatorial Guinea would be hosting.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the president described Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea as a strategic partners.

“We share a lot of things in common with Equatorial Guinea. These include geographical neighbourliness and neighbourliness in terms of resources. Nigeria is more of a gas producing, rather than oil producing country. That fact had long been established. If we had followed our own plans, laid out in the 1970s, for the gas sector, we should have had 12 trains by early 1980s, instead of being on just six trains now,” Buhari declared.

The Special Envoy thanked Nigeria for the support she gave Equatorial Guinea to host the first summit of gas exporting countries in the world, taking place on African soil.

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