The Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has expressed satisfaction with the progress of work done on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project, saying the first Quarter 2023 target for the project delivery would be met.

The NNPC GMD/CEO, Mallam Mele Kyari, said this when he took the board members on an official tour of Segment A sites in Abaji Area Council of Abuja on Thursday.

The GMD/CEO, who was accompanied by other members of his management team, stated that as a result of activities around the AKK project, the country would have over eight billion standard cubic feet of gas injected into the domestic pipeline which would improve power generation, facilitate industrial development, create thousands of job opportunities and deepen domestic gas utilisation.

Kyari, who described the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline as “a signature project of this administration”, said it was time for Nigeria to take advantage of having the highest gas reserve in Africa.

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Earlier in her remarks, the Chairman of the NNPC Board, Senator Margery Okadigbo, said that based on the magnitude of work done at the various construction sites, the projection to have first gas by the first quarter of 2023 was realisable.

She noted that the country stood the chance to leverage on the current realities to provide solutions to the global gas supply challenge.

Chairman of Oilserve, the Company handling Segment A of the AKK project, Mr. Emeka Okwuosa, confirmed his company’s readiness to deliver the project at the desired time.

He assured that the project managers and teams were more competent to deliver the project within record time.

The construction of the 614km AKK Pipeline project was flagged off simultaneously in Kogi and Kaduna states by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020 to encourage gas utilisation and serve as a springboard for the nation’s industrialisation.

The Star