Tinubu’s Gas Reforms Delivers Four Investment Decisions, Targets Industrial Growth – Verheijen

Nigeria has recorded four final investment decisions (FIDs) in gas projects in less than two years, while average daily gas production has risen from about seven billion cubic feet (7bcf) to eight billion cubic feet (8bcf), the Special Adviser to the President on Energy (Oil and Gas), Mrs Olu Arowolo Verheijen, has disclosed.

Our Energy Correspondent, National, reports that Verheijen attributed the progress to reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration aimed at removing investment barriers and unlocking Nigeria’s vast gas resources for industrialisation, electricity generation and economic growth.

She spoke on Wednesday in her keynote address at the Africa Interviews Sustainability Forum 2026 in Lagos, themed “Energy Security and Africa’s Energy Transition: Defining the Role of Gas.”

Highlighting Nigeria’s gas potential, Verheijen said the country holds more than 200 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven reserves but stressed that resource abundance alone does not guarantee prosperity.

“A country can sit on enormous natural wealth and fail to turn it into energy to power industry, industries that create jobs and jobs that help us grow incomes,” she said.

“What turns resources into prosperity is investment, consistent investment that responds to predictable incentives and a stable environment.”

She challenged Nigeria and other African countries to focus on converting their natural resources into commercially viable projects that generate sustainable economic returns.

Tinubu’s reforms drive gas investments

Verheijen said President Tinubu had given his administration a clear mandate to address the factors preventing investment from matching Nigeria’s economic potential.

“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in 2023, he gave us a very clear mandate. Understand why investment has not moved at the pace of Nigeria’s potential and fix it,” she said.

According to her, gas remains central to the administration’s reform agenda because of its importance to electricity generation, manufacturing, transportation, fertiliser production and cleaner cooking.

“Gas has been a priority within that reform agenda because Nigeria is, as you all know, even more gas-rich than it is oil-rich, and the gas is arguably the most important physical resource for industrialisation,” she said.

She disclosed that Nigeria had recorded four gas FIDs in less than two years, including the Ima project in September 2026. Indigenous producers, she added, were playing an increasingly significant role in the country’s gas supply.

Verheijen said these developments reflected progress towards creating conditions that encourage investment and expand the use of gas across the economy.

Government promotes cleaner cooking, settles gas debts

The presidential adviser also highlighted measures introduced since 2023 to encourage the adoption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for household cooking.

She said the government had instituted import duty waivers and zero-rated value-added tax (VAT) measures for LPG and gas cylinders to promote cleaner cooking alternatives and reduce dependence on firewood.

“A gas-rich nation cannot be comfortable while families remain stuck in the age of firewood,” she said.

Verheijen further disclosed that more than ?100 billion in longstanding gas debts had been settled since January 2026 under the administration’s Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme.

The settlement forms part of efforts to address financial obligations in the power sector and strengthen the gas-to-power value chain.

Africa must define its energy transition

Addressing Africa’s energy transition, Verheijen said the continent must prioritise energy security, industrial development and job creation while pursuing environmental sustainability.

“For Africa, the energy transition must mean transformation, molecules converted into megawatts, fertilizer, petrochemicals, cleaner mobility, manufacturing, jobs and exports,” she said.

She argued that African countries must retain the freedom to determine the pace of their energy transitions in line with their development priorities and economic circumstances.

“The energy transition must also mean agency. Africa’s right to decide for itself how fast it decarbonizes, rather than having those choices made for us by others. It is about affirming our right to be the authors of our own energy transition,” she said.

Verheijen also emphasised the need to measure and mitigate methane emissions and ensure that host communities benefit meaningfully from gas development.

Expressing optimism about Nigeria’s gas prospects, she urged stakeholders to sustain reform efforts and measure progress by the economic and social benefits delivered to citizens.

“Nigeria’s gas future is promising. If we stay the course, energy security is a journey and every day we must ask ourselves the pivotal question, are we making progress?” she said.

She added: “History will not ask what we possessed, it will ask what we did with it and whether we turned it into lasting prosperity for our people.”

The Africa Interviews Sustainability Forum 2026 brought together stakeholders to examine the role of gas in strengthening energy security, attracting investment and shaping Africa’s energy transition.

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