Government has been urged to utilise excesses in gas flaring to improve the lives of Nigerians.
This was the view at the technical session of Accountability for Gas Flared and Clean Energy Advocacy (AGFACEA), organised by Advocacy for Gas Flare Accountability in Nigeria (AGFAN) with support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Palladium, in Lagos.
Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Scale Project, Palladium, Joshua Samson, said: “It is sad that the cost of cooking gas is on the rise. Some people are politicising gas flaring. Government can use the excesses to improve lives.”
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of ANPEZ Centre for Environment and Development, Everest Nwankwo, advised stakeholders in oil and gas to support action to harmonise and ascertain gas flared/vented and payments for gas flare penalties.
Chief Executive Officer of Initiative for Community Development, Benjamin Ogbalor, said the Federal Government increased penalty for gas flaring from 10 cents to $2, to force oil companies to convert the gas flared into something useful to society.
He said AFGAN Cluster, comprising 10 non-governmental organisations, had a mechanism to track volume of gas flared.
Ogbalor said the National Assembly adopted the mechanism and directed ministries and agencies to ensure implementation.