File: Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen
The Federal Government says it has settled more than N100bn in longstanding gas debts since January 2026 as part of efforts to strengthen the gas-to-power value chain.
The Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas, Mrs Olu Verheijen, disclosed this on Wednesday in her keynote address at the Africa Interviews Sustainability Forum 2026 in Lagos.
She said the settlement was carried out under the administration’s Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme.
The presidential adviser also highlighted measures introduced since 2023 to encourage the adoption of liquefied petroleum gas for household cooking.
She said the government had instituted import duty waivers and zero-rated value-added tax 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 attributed progress in the gas sector to reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s administration aimed at removing investment barriers and unlocking Nigeria’s gas resources for industrialisation, electricity generation and economic growth.
She disclosed that Nigeria had recorded four final investment decisions in gas projects in less than two years, while average daily gas production had risen from about seven billion cubic feet to eight billion cubic feet.
Speaking on Nigeria’s gas potential, Verheijen said the country held more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves but stressed that resource abundance alone did 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.
“What turns resources into prosperity is investment, consistent investment that responds to predictable incentives and a stable environment,“ she noted.
The presidential aide maintained that Tinubu had given his administration a clear mandate to address the factors preventing investment from matching Nigeria’s economic potential.
“When President Bola 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 remained 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 added.
Verheijen disclosed that Nigeria had recorded four gas final investment decisions 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.
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 is right to decide for itself how fast it decarbonises, 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 benefited meaningfully from gas development.