BY Chinedu Asadu
Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom, has formally received the official gazette of the federal government signalling the approval for the Liberty Oil and Gas Free Zone in the state.
The gazette on the approval was presented to the governor by a delegation from the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA), led by Umana Okon Umana, its managing director, at government house, Uyo, on Friday.
Emmanuel thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the timely approval for the establishment of the Liberty Oil and Gas Free Zone in the state.
He said the 50,000 hectares free trade zone, which covers six local government areas in the state, is proposed to be the largest in Nigeria when completed.
Emmanuel said this will give a boost to the state’s coconut refinery project and its consequent economic diversification.
The governor explained that the state-owned coconut refinery which will be driven by a combination of several technologies to enhance its operations once installed will serve as a major export hub of coconut virgin oil in Africa, adding that the refinery will be multi-faceted and digitized with capacity to process other economic products like palm kernel.
“Within this oil and gas free zones we are installing the largest coconut refinery that will do crude extraction of coconut oil in Africa. That same refinery without changing a pan can process palm kernel oil, so it is going to be a multi-faceted, multi-purpose and digitized refinery,” he said.
He said the delay in the commencement of the coconut refinery was due to the outbreak of COVID-19 which stalled the movement of expatriates and equipment acquired for the project and assured Akwa Ibom people of its commencement once the dreaded pandemic is abated.
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