By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
Chairman of Senate Committee on Power, Senator Gabriel Suswam has revealed that a comprehensive legal framework was being put together for the development of Nigeria’s gas sector.
Speaking after the Committee met with stakeholders in the Power Sector on Wednesday, Suswam lamented the lack of political will to develop gas resources that are in larger quantity in Nigeria.
Reacting to questions from journalists on the long delay in developing the nation’s gas resources, Suswan acknowledged that, with the lack of enabling laws, investors were unwilling to delve into the sector”, noting that the bill being worked upon would protect their investment if passed into law.
He said: The bill has nothing to do with the supply of electricity.
“What the bill will do for us is to give potential investors; those coming to invest in our power sector some level of comfort.
Most of the investors like the lady said in the meeting are not ready to come because they feel unprotected.
“The electricity bill we are laying on the floor of the Senate is to create a legal framework. Anybody that wants to invest in the power sector in Nigeria will look at extant laws.
“We have done the first reading of the bill, and we are hoping that at the end of this month or at the beginning of next month, we can pass the bill into second reading and that is why we invite people for a public hearing to come and make contributions.
“The bill is a whole gamut of the power sector like the issue of gas, issues of renewable energy, the issue of tariff that has become a problem to most Nigerians who are wondering if the increment in tariff would be addressed in the bill.
Like the President of the gas association said, Nigeria has more gas than PMS and we can wire gas to peoples houses as it is done in America and Europe.
“Why are we not doing it, its because we have not been deliberate; we don’t have the political will power on part of our government to be able to develop gas to that extent where we will achieve some level of comfort.
“Gas to power, you recall that Obasanjo regime decided to build ten integrated power plants. The source of energy is gas and those are the ten power plant. We can do more than that.
“If for instance, gas is piped to Benue State and any person who wants to invest and has enough money can build a power plant in Benue.
“That enhances power supply in the state and in the country at large. We have the capacity to do that. Gas is gas and we have it under us all over the places. We can do that.
“That is why the Committee is coming and the electricity law we are bringing is all-encompassing and deals with the value chain of any part of the power sector.”
Gas to power has been a recurrent issue that the Senate Committee has vowed to transform by converting gas to energy for Nigerians.
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