TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari will participate in the 5th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, scheduled for Friday.

This was disclosed in a statement by Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity.

The one-day meeting will be attended by leaders of major gas producing nations of the world namely, Algeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Bolivia, Iran, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Kazakhstan and Norway, whose countries account for 70 percent and 80 percent of global gas reserves and production respectively.

According to the statement, the idea of the GECF was first mooted in 2001 when the first ministerial meeting held in Tehran, Iran, while the first gas summit, took place in Doha, Qatar in 2011 with Nigeria represented at the highest level.

The statement said the fifth gas summit in Malabo is the first time the biennial meeting will be hosted in Africa.

“Recall that on November 19, 2019, President Buhari had received Mr Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, the Special Envoy of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who brought a special invitation to the Nigerian leader to attend the 5th Gas Summit as well as thanking Nigeria for her support towards the hosting, ” the statement said.

” During that visit, the President had noted that Nigeria is more of a gas producing rather than oil producing country. That fact had long been established. If we had followed our plans laid out in the 1970s for the gas sector, we should have had 12 trains by early 1980s, instead of being on just six trains of exporting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

“The Malabo Summit provides a veritable platform for President Buhari to reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to the broad objectives of the GECF which among others, seek to support the sovereign rights of Member Countries over their natural gas resources and their ability to independently plan and manage the sustainable, efficient and environmentally-conscious development, use and conservation of natural gas resources for the benefit of their people.

“The Nigerian delegation will also use the opportunity to discuss current trends in the global gas market, potential policies for the energy sector and opportunities for collaboration.

“At the end of the 5th Gas Summit, the Malabo Declaration is expected to be adopted.”

The president will be accompanied by Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs; Timipre Sylva, minister of state, for petroleum resources; Olamilekan Adegbige, minister of mines and steel development and Mele Kyari, group managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

After the summit, the president will head for Daura, Katsina state on a five-day official visit.