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President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja today to participate in the fifth Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
According to the statement, apart from the Nigerian leader, the one-day meeting will be attended by leaders of major gas producing nations of the world.
The affected countries include Algeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Bolivia, Iran, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Kazakhstan and Norway.
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Shehu said these countries accounted 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.
“Indeed, President Buhari had attended the Third Gas Summit in Tehran in Nov. 2015.
“This Fifth Gas Summit in Malabo is the first time the biennial meeting will be hosted in Africa,’’ he added.
“At the end of the 5th Gas Summit, the Malabo Declaration is expected to be adopted,’’ he said.
Shehu revealed that President Buhari would be accompanied by 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.
“After the Summit, President Buhari will head for Daura, Katsina State on a five-day official visit,’’ Shehu further disclosed.
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