Kaduna signs pact on gas supply with NNPC, GACN

The Kaduna State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) to expand the supply and utilisation of gas in the state.

Governor Nasir el-Rufai, according to a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Communication), Muyiwa Adekeye, welcomes the project, which is expected to bring additional source of energy nearer to businesses and residents. El-Rufai, during the signing, yesterday, at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna, said the state was ready for gas.

The event was attended by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe; the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Mele Kyari; the Managing Director of GACN, Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye, as well as officials of Kaduna government, NNPC and GACN.

The Guardian gathered that the MoU was the outcome of engagements between the Kaduna government, NNPC and GACN in recent months. In his address, the state’s Commissioner for Business, Innovation and Technology, Idris Nyam, said the project would promote gas development and utilisation projects within Kaduna, in alignment with the AKK Gas Pipeline project and stimulate industrialisation through gas commercialisation.

Governor el-Rufai expressed state’s commitment to the gas project, which he described as “a welcome boost to our investment and job creation strategy.” NNPC, through its GMD, said that its focus was to deliver gas into the domestic market.

“We know that it is the game-changer for our country, particularly Kaduna,” Kyari stated, while assuring the governor that the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano gas pipeline would be delivered on schedule.

FOLLOWING the bloody crisis in Plateau State, El-Rufai has ordered the Kaduna Scholarship and Loans Board to immediately evacuate Kaduna students studying at the University of Jos (UNIJOS) and other tertiary institutions in the troubled state.

Executive Secretary of the board, Hassan Rilwan, disclosed in a statement, yesterday, that the evacuation was concluded last weekend following the state government’s directives that all Kaduna students should be evacuated in view of the security situation in Jos.

According to Rilwan, 87 students evacuated on Friday, August 20, 2021, by security agencies under the supervision of the board and have since been reunited with their families.