From Uche Usim, Abuja
With gas becoming the toast of the energy transition agenda, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva are lobbying other West African governments to allow a Nigerian head the multi-billion dollar West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) project, being a major gas nation.
The federal government’s desires were strongly canvassed on Tuesday at the meeting of the Committee of Ministers (CoM) WAGP held in Abuja.
Speaking at the event attended by the Ministers of Energy of Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic; representative of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), ECOWAS Commissioner for Energy and Mines, the Director General of WAGPA, among others, Sylva referred the delegates to section 4(2) of Article IV of the WAGPA Treaty to resolve the issue of the appointment of the Director General for members.
“If section 4(2) of Article IV of the Treaty is to the effect that Nigeria is qualified, then, there need not be further objection against what section 4(2) of Article IV of the Treaty plainly stated.
“I am also happy that this meeting will give us yet another opportunity to listen to presentations from WAGPA and WAPCo on the project performance and the status of the ongoing reforms. These presentations will enable us to assess performance of the project and the level of achievements made so far on the project and the challenges that will require our urgent attention as Committee of Ministers, the highest Authority of the WAGP”, he said.
Sylva added that the meeting held at an auspicious time as it offers member nations with stakes in the WAGPA project a huge chance to fill the energy lacuna and gas scarcity created by the Russian-Ukrainian war.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure the success of the project, no matter how difficult it may sometimes be. As we all know, the ECOWAS Commission has initiated the West African Gas Pipeline Expansion Project (WAGPEP) and is currently working with the Nigeria- Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) Project for possible synergy between the two projects. I also know that WAPCo and WAGPA are working closely with the entities to provide technical assistance and experience to achieve the synergy”, he added.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers Meeting and Ghana’s Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh reckoned that in spite of the technical breaches encountered in the past, the WAGP has remained a regional asset that has significantly contributed to the stability of power supply in beneficiary countries over the last few years.
This, he said, makes it appropriate to extend the pipeline further along the West African coast up to Morocco to supply natural gas to the countries along the pipeline route, as well as those inland.
“It is for this reason that all efforts must be made to enhance the operational efficiency of the pipeline and strengthen the regulatory authority to perform its role, most importantly, within the anticipated context of multiplicity of shippers on the pipeline which would increase the complexity of regulation. The political dimension of this complexity cannot be understated.
“The other critical issue is the proposal to the ECOWAS Commission regarding the establishment of WAGPA properly as an ECOWAS institution. Although the feedback on this proposal is yet to be received, it needs to be emphasized that the response of the ECOWAS Commission is key in realizing the envisaged future of the pipeline as an infrastructure under the umbrella of ECOWAS”, he explained.
In her remarks, the Director General of WAGPA, Chafari Kanya urged the delegates to identify areas of gap or lack in the delivery of better services by WAGPA and abridge such gap/ lack to ensure not just continuous but increased and sustainable flow of gas.
“To me, this is important because adequate flow of gas to end users through the WAGP will fast track positive growth of the power sector of the countries, accelerate industrialization, generate employment, increase revenue for the State Parties and increase infrastructural developments for our people. These advantages to our State Parties are positive economic benefits that the WAGPA must not fail to play its role to achieve under my leadership as the DG of WAGPA, by the grace of God”, she said.