By Moses Patience Chat
The House of Representatives on Thursday established an adhoc committee to investigate an alleged sum of $9.05 billion revenue loss from gas flaring in the last one decade.
The resolutions were based on a motion titled “Need to Address the Lingering Issue of Gas Flaring by Oil and Gas Companies”, which was moved at the plenary by Hon Ahmed Mohammed Munir.
Presenting the motion, Munir noted that Nigeria was blessed with vast oil and natural gas resources and due to inadequate management of resources most of the natural gas was flared.
While speaking, he made reference to the year 2021, where an estimated amount of $761.19 million was lost to gas flaring, a total value of N316.5 billion that would have accrued to the government if it had captured this volume and repurposed it.
In his own words, “this sum would have helped the country provide basic amenities, as stated in the 2022 fiscal budget. The amount would have financed the total expenditure for Primary Health Centres (PHCs), rural electrification projects, and the maintenance of all road and bridge projects by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA). These have a collective figure of N227.13 billion. A breakdown shows that N24.4 billion was budgeted for PHCs, N113.96 billion for rural electrification, and N88.76 billion for FERMA.
According to him, the trend continued in 2023 as N150 billion value of gas was flared from January to April and that “approximately $9.05 billion has been lost to gas flaring in the last one decade. This money, he said, would have offset 23.62% of the country’s total foreign debt of $38.32 billion.
He further added that “in addition to wasting a valuable source of energy, flaring has a negative impact on human health, Climate and the environment”.
Adopting the motion, the Speaker, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, named the motion mover, Munir the ad-hoc committee leader with 14 other lawmakers as members.The committee was given 6 weeks to conclude the investigation and report back for further legislative action.
At the plenary, the House also gave the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) a two week ultimatum to provide it with specified information on companies involved in gas flaring. The report is expected to include amount flared and penalty cost in the last decade for both local and International oil Companies (IOCs) so that outstanding debts would be fully recovered.