The Group Chief Executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has disclosed that the state-owned energy firm would resume oil drilling in the northern part of the country.
Ojulari stated this in an interview with BBC News Hausa on Monday, as this comes over two years after the past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari launched the crude oil drilling project on the border of Bauchi and Gombe states.
Ojulari said the suspended project will be resumed under his leadership. Recall that northerners had expressed joy over the plan by President Buhari to turn the region into an oil-rich zone like the Niger Delta. But the project failed to continue for undisclosed reasons.
But the new GCEO of the NNPC, Ojulari, urged residents of the region to calm down because the national oil firm will return to work, he told the BBC.
“We will continue with the oil drilling in Kolmani and other places. After the oil drilling, we will also ensure that we complete the gas pipeline from Ajaokuta to Kano,” Ojulari said.
According to him, these projects will allow previously closed companies to reopen so they can continue operating and open new ones. “This will bring benefits to the region, which will lead to everyone benefiting because wealth will increase. Therefore, we must return and continue this project,” he said.