The Kaduna State Government (KDSG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the NNPC and the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) to expand the supply and utilisation of gas in the state. The governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai said that Kaduna State is ready for gas and welcomes the project as it brings nearer the availability of a significant additional source of energy for businesses and residents in Kaduna State.
Malam El-Rufai was speaking at the event held on Thursday, 26th August 2021 at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna. The MoU signing event was attended by Dr Hadiza Balarabe, the Deputy Governor of Kaduna, senior KDSG officials, Malam Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Abdulkabir Ahmed, the GED Gas & Power NNPC, Adokiye Tombomieye, the GED Upstream NNPC and Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye, the Managing Director GACN and members of his team.
The MoU is the outcome of engagements between the Kaduna State Government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the GACN in recent months. In his welcome address Idris Nyam, the Commissioner Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology, said that the purpose of the project is to promote gas development and utilisation projects within Kaduna State in alignment with the AKK Gas Pipeline project and the national objective of stimulating industrialisation through gas commercialisation.
Governor El-Rufai expressed Kaduna State’s commitment to the gas project which he described as “a welcome boost to our investment and job creation strategy. It will create jobs and provide skills for artisans who will work on the gas pipelines and associated infrastructure. Beyond that, this project will power the industries that have responded with enthusiasm to our investment promotion campaign”.
The governor disclosed that “the Kaduna State Government has since 2015 worked to create two new industrial areas in the state. The Green Agro-Allied Industrial Zone (GAAIZ) is located in Chikun Local Government Area, along the Kaduna-Abuja highway, while the Green Economic Zone (GEZ) is in Igabi Local Government Area. GAAIZ is already hosting investments like the Olam project, the fertiliser plant of OCP of Morocco and DPAN, the joint venture between Dangote Industries and Peugeot for vehicle assembly. Just this week, the African Development Bank disclosed that it will be financing our Special Agro-Processing Zone within the GAAIZ. The Green Economic Zone is being developed as an industrial park for light manufacturing industries.”
Noting that gas provides a cost-effective option for powering factories, homes and vehicles, he assured the NNPC that “our industrial parks provide clear evidence that Kaduna is ready for gas. The potential customers are here, and this gas expansion project will only attract more business customers. We expect that this gas project will also help expand power supply capacity and options in Kaduna State. It will provide feedstock for the 215MW power plant in Kudenda. I am happy to inform you that the Kaduna State Government will also locate an 84MW power plant in Kudenda, also to be powered by gas. The combined effect of these two power plants will be to make power supply more reliable in Kaduna State.”
Malam El-Rufai expressed gratitude to Malam Mele Kyari and the NNPC team for this remarkable developmental initiative and the evident zeal of the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria to deliver the gas project in Kaduna State.
In his remarks, Malam Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, said that the NNPC’s focus is to deliver gas into the domestic market. We know that it is the game changer for our country, particularly more so for Kaduna State.” He assured the governor that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline will be delivered on schedule.
