History will remember President Muhammadu Buhari as one leader who dared to invest successfully in Frontier Basins exploration especially with the ongoing drilling of oil in Nasarawa State and Kolmani area bordering Bauchi and Gombe States.
This is according to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a Press statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke.
The group said that the President has done better than his predecessors in opening up new revenue opportunities for Nigeria in petroleum and gas.
“There are six Frontier Basins in the country and these are areas where little or no exploration activities have been successfully carried out before.
“But all these have now changed on the watch of President Buhari, after the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) became operational in 2021 and Frontier Basins exploration given a place of pride with a well thought-out clause for funding.
“We invite Nigerians to note that no government had before now shown the necessary zeal and political will to prospect for oil in the Frontier Basins which comprise the Anambra Platform, Benue Trough, Bida Basin, Chad (Nigerian sector) Basin, Dahomey Basin, and Sokoto Basin as well as the Deep and Ultra-deep offshore in the Niger Delta, inspite of the belief that they have immense oil and gas prospects.
“So, coming off the back of the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in the Kolmani Area of the Upper Benue Trough, the Buhari administration has again proved, with the drilling of oil in Nasarawa, that it has a date to keep with history as far as expanding the nation’s considerable hydro-carbon assets”.
The group maintained that President Buhari deserves credit for daring to be different than his predecessors in his bid to expand the country’s revenue base.
“We hail the President’s steadfastness and commitment to leaving a legacy of performance, and also congratulate the Nigerian people for what is almost likely to expand the country’s revenue potentials.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NNPC Ltd is projecting that new oil and gas discoveries will help raise the country’s oil reserves from 37.8 billion barrels to 50 billion barrels in the next decade.
“And just in case, there are fears that host communities will suffer what oil producing communities in the Niger Delta have had to withstand for decades, we would want to draw attention again to the PIA which mandates oil prospecting companies to set aside 3% of their actual operating expenditure for the preceding year as host community funds to be managed by the oil-bearing communities themselves.
“So it is clearly a win-win situation that will protect all stakeholders, and let us add here that the President has affirmed his directive to NNPC Ltd and its partners to do everything necessary to mitigate environmental consequences of oil exploration activities.
“And for people who may be wondering why the country is investing in exploration activities at a time the world is looking towards renewable energy, the answer is not far-fetched; there are considerable gas resources in the Frontier Basins which is why the Buhari administration has been alluding to hydrocarbon deposits rather than oil alone.
“For a fact, there are over one billion barrels of oil reserves and 500 billion cubic feet of gas within the Kolmani area alone.”
The group also reaffirmed its stance that President Buhari will leave the country better than he met it in 2015.
