Tackle revenue crisis with gas production, ANAN tells govt

The Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, on Friday, charged the Federal Government to increase investments in the production of Liquefied Natural Gas, as earnings from gas would help tackle Nigeria’s current revenue crisis.

ANAN said this was vital because of the rising global demand for gas, stressing that it had been established that Nigeria has more gas than crude oil.

ANAN’s President, James Neminebor, disclosed this in Abuja at the 2024 National Budget Workshop organised by the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria in collaboration with ANAN.

He spoke alongside the President of CITN, Samuel Agbeluyi, during a press briefing that was held after the workshop.

Neminebor said, “We want to advise the government that in the matter of budget, revenue generation is the most important thing. Where the revenue is well sourced, there will be enough to allocate in the budget.

“In Nigeria we leave so many things unattended to. We emphasis so much on crude oil, whereas in the case of gas, that arm of the sector is not properly attended to.

“The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas company is a direct intervention where the Federal Government owns shares and, of course, dividends are paid. If we have four of such, that will give the Federal Government enough revenue.

“We need more than three of NLNG in Nigeria because gas is by far more available as reserves in this country than crude oil. The Federal Government should therefore invest in gas and have a serious hold on it to expand Nigeria’s revenue base.”

In July 2023, the Federal Government stated that Nigeria has 208.83 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, which represents 33 per cent of Africa’s total gas reserves of 620TCF.

It also stated that Nigeria could be described as a gas-rich nation ranking number one in Africa in reserves with a life index of 94 years.

Corroborating ANAN’s position, the CITN president said, “Adequate revenue is highly needed at this time because we can’t continue to be borrowing money.

“We need to generate enough revenue to finance the budget that is before us. So we seek the understanding and cooperation of political leaders to ensure that whatever is collected is properly utilised.”

Agbeluyi urged the political class to intensify measures geared towards increasing the country’s revenue, adding that the suggestion of his counterpart in ANAN would be of help when implemented.

Okechukwu, a journalist with Ezenwoko’s Blogpapers, has 15 years experience covering Energy (Power and Petroleum), Finance, Agriculture, Environment, Humanitarian Services, Works and Housing, Trade and Investment, Capital Markets, Aviation and Transport, ICT, among others