Domestic gas needs top priority, says Yar'Adua

President Yar'Adua

LAGOS -(Dow Jones)- Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua said Monday the country's gas resources should first be used to meet domestic requirements, before the country turns to exports.

According to a government-issued statement, Yar'Adua said his government would strive to apply "Nigeria's gas resources in meeting the country's lingering energy crisis," which was listed in his campaign as part of his seven-point agenda.

"So I am more interested in how much gas we can tap for domestic use than what we can get for export. We must power this economy," the president was quoted as saying at a meeting Monday with the management of state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. in Abuja.

Yar'Adua was inaugurated president on May 29, taking over from Olusegun Obasanjo, who led for eight years from 1999.

Nigeria's power crisis has persisted despite the elaborate program embarked upon by the former government, which has targeted raising domestic power generation to 10,000 megawatts by the end of 2007.

The program includes the construction of gas-powered plants, some of which are being undertaken by oil companies operating in the country.

Current power generation is about 3,000MW, a level that forces most Nigerians, including companies, to depend on power-generating sets to meet their power needs.

"As I keep saying, we cannot begin to address, in a fundamental manner, the problems of the economy, until we successfully tackle the power and energy issue. It is critical to all my plans," Yar'Adua said.

He directed the NNPC to draw up a plan that would ensure adequate supply of gas to existing and new power-generation plants.

Part of the crisis in the power sector is caused by attacks by militants from the Niger Delta, who sometimes destroy gas and oil pipelines. The militias say they want a greater regional share of resources, and have accused past governments and oil companies of neglecting the area from where these resources are being exploited.

Yar'Adua said that he would tackle the Niger Delta problem by addressing the developmental challenges in the region and enforcing law and order.

"My plan is for a massive intervention and after consulting with all the stakeholders, we will take our plan to the National Assembly so everyone can buy in," he said.

"Once we can address the development issues, it would be easy to tackle the criminal element of the problem," Yar'Adua said.

-By Vincent Nwanma, Dow Jones Newswires; +234-802-358-4996; vinwanma@ beta.linkserve.com