Gas Development Gets 195 Billion Naira Budget

The Director General of the Budget Office, Dr Bright Okogwu, has said that 195 billion Naira has been budgeted for the national domestic gas development initiative this year.

Okogwu said this on Thursday in Abuja at the budget defence session with the joint National Assembly Committee on Gas.

He said it was impossible to get the total budget of 725 billion Naira required to complete the project, and that it was necessary to explore third party financing to augment what was being provided by government.

Funding the power sector

The Director General said that over the years, government has provided funding for the power sector and the sector has tried to optimise within available resources.

Okogwu said economic growth could only be achieved with regular power supply.

He said that that more than 5.3 billion dollars had been provided for joint venture contracts in the power sector.

Also speaking, the Head, Presidential Task Force on Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, called for more funding of the power sector and adequate infrastructure for gas development.

“This is the key to unlocking the economic growth of Nigeria.

“We have sufficiency of gas for now but by June 2, we will begin to have a decline,'' he said.

He said that the Federal Government would no longer build power plants while the distribution of power would also be privatised.

The Chairman of the committee, Sen. Osita Izunaso, said that the gas to power project should be listed in the national budget to attract prominence.

He stressed the need to make available to the committee, the framework for alternative funding of the project.

NAN/Williams