President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja today, November 29, to take part in the 5th Gas Exporting Countries Forum, GECF, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
After the one-day Summit, the President will head for his home town Daura, Katsina State for a five-day official visit, according to a statement by his senior aide, Garba Shehu.
Leaders of other major gas producing nations of the world are expected at the gas meeting in Malabo.
They include Algeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Bolivia, Iran, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Kazakhstan and Norway, whose countries account for 70 per cent and 80 per cent of global gas reserves and production respectively.
The idea of the GECF was first mooted in 2001 when the First Ministerial Meeting held in Tehran, Iran, while the First GECF otherwise called Gas Summit, took place in Doha, Qatar in 2011 with Nigeria represented at the highest level.
This Fifth Gas Summit in Malabo is the first time the biennial meeting will be hosted in Africa.
READ ALSO: I Won’t Go For A 3rd Term – Buhari
Recall on November 19, 2019, Buhari received the Special Envoy of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Mr. Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, who brought a special invitation to the Nigerian leader to attend the 5th Gas Summit as well as thanking Nigeria for her support towards the hosting.
During that visit, the President noted that, “Nigeria is more of a gas producing rather than oil producing country. That fact had long been established. If we had followed our plans laid out in the 1970s for the gas sector, we should have had 12 trains by early 1980s, instead of being on just six trains,” of exporting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
The Nigerian delegation will use the opportunity to discuss current trends in the global gas market, potential policies for the energy sector and opportunities for collaboration.
The expectation is that the end of the 5th Gas Summit, the Malabo Declaration will be adopted.
Accompanying President Buhari to the summit are, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite; and the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kolo Kyari.