Former Minister of Power and Chief Executive Officer, Geometric Power Limited, Prof. Bart Nnaji has urged the federal government to continually grow natural gas because in many years to come, 80 per cent of power supply will come from natural gas.
Nnaji, who spoke on the side lines of the West Africa Power 2015 Summit organised by IRN in Lagos said “The power that we have now can be sustainable and that we continue to grow it means that key issues of generation must be assured; that evacuation of the power must be there, and it requires that the government will put people who are absolutely thinking about the nation, not just in the Ministry of Power, but also in the other ministries. People who will work together to deliver
“In the next many years, 80 per cent of power will come from natural gas. So, we must continue to grow natural gas. I am not sure that whatever is released now is even going to be enough to go as far as we would want in the interim.
“Right now, we have domestic gas obligation from the producers of 4.9 billion standard cubic feet of gas and only about a third (1.9 billion) of that is being delivered, and that’s what Nigeria has.
“In the next 10 years, we need about four times that amount. So, we need a lot of investment. The sector needs to be opened up for private sector investment in gas.
“We need to grow power to a point where Nigerians can feel the presence of power supply in the country and there is some degree of predictability. What should happen is continued growth as expected, but to have power stability requires a lot of discipline of the various organs of the production system.”
On the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, he said “The TCN should never go back to government management. Government ownership, yes, but not government control. It is not a good idea. Private sector proper management, maybe. But giving out segments of the TCN on concession; yes, that’s better.
“I believe that the private sector management was never allowed to work. That’s part of the problem. The people who were brought to manage had to endure interferences from the government appointed officials. So that is an issue.”
He said what should happen “is that perhaps a short-term extension can happen or a concession, but not to go back to government management.”
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