President Bola Tinubu has urged oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta to take host communities’ engagement seriously to reduce tensions and build confidence in the Niger Delta.
A statement from the Nigeria LNG on Thursday, stated that the president spoke when a team from the company led by the Chairman of the Board, King Edmund Daukoru, visited him in his office in Abuja.
While thanking the NLNG for the visit and commitment to ‘excellence’ and contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Tinubu noted that the company plays a critical role in Nigeria’s economy.
Tinubu affirmed the importance of gas not just as a transition fuel but also as the fuel for the future, assuring that the gas sector would get priority attention in his administration.
He assured the board that all encumbrances to the progress and development of Nigeria’s industrialisation as well as any further impediments to the business practice in the oil and gas sector would be swiftly removed.
The president emphasised that for the oil and gas industry to continue to thrive, all stakeholders in the value chain, especially the host communities needed to be engaged and carried along to enable the government to build confidence and trust.
He urged the board and management of NLNG to continue to work in collaboration with the government to ensure that issues can be resolved quickly and efficiently.
He further reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring that businesses thrive in order to generate economic prosperity and sustainable development.
Speaking on the occasion, Daukoru, who led the team, expressed profound gratitude to Tinubu for his ‘unwavering support’ in bolstering Nigeria’s position in the global energy landscape.
He acknowledged the crucial role NLNG has played in Nigeria’s economy, noting the need for government support in resolving some challenges the company is presently facing.
Also speaking during the visit, the Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, stated that since inception, NLNG had contributed enormous revenue to the government through dividend and taxes, noting that the FIRS declared the company as the largest tax paying company in 2022.
Mshelbila also emphasised that NLNG’s Domestic LPG (DLPG) Scheme has guaranteed LPG supply, availability, and affordability, and has also stimulated the development of different parts of the DLPG value chain in Nigeria.
According to him, 100 per cent of produced LPG volumes from NLNG is currently dedicated to the domestic market, supplying about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic LPG demand.
He stressed that challenges around pipeline vandalism had constrained NLNG’s production with consequent loss of revenue to the government.
Besides, he noted that multiple taxation from various government agencies and the Finance Act, which he said was being amended yearly, distorts corporate planning and puts business on the back foot as well as stifle investor confidence and investment opportunities in the sector.
Emmanuel Addeh
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