Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has vowed to make the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) project, more efficient in order to stabilize the energy sector across the sub-region.

This, he said, during a meeting with the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, who is making his first official visit to Nigeria since his election in April. The two heads of state discussed the insecurity in the West African sub-region energy and the issue of illegal trade between the two countries.

Buhari stated that the country is doing her best to stabilize the gas pipelines in order to enhance electricity supply in Benin and other West African sub-region, using modern Information Technology (IT) equipment

He added that his administration is considering the possibility of using modern technology to transform gas into liquid form for export.

“The economy part of our discussion is mainly energy, making sure that the West African Gas pipeline is made much more efficient. This government is making all the efforts it can to stabilize the situation because the resources are there. The world knows that Nigeria has plenty of gas, what we need to do is to stabilize the environment so that this gas can be regularly pumped to the sub-region through the infrastructure already in place. Also the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), is not doing too badly as gas can now be converted into liquid form, the technology is now available and being transferred to Benin Republic to power their power stations,” he said.

For his part, the visiting President, Patrice Talon, said the discussion was centered on issues of common interest. He said although the two countries are faced energy problems, Benin Republic needs Nigeria to address the energy issues.

“We spoke about what it takes to the synergies that we need to do that these problems from both sides would be addressed. We looked into a situation and discussed the possibility of reactivating and reenergizing the relationship between the two countries in such a way that illegal trade is not encouraged but legal and legitimate trades are encouraged so that things are done in legal ways,” he told Guardian news.

Anita Fatunji