The Senate Committee Chairman on Gas, Senator Jarigbe Agom has denied claims making the rounds that the recently inaugurated 5 Mini Liquefied Natural Gas plants in Ajaokuta, Kogi State was influenced by its Commission.
The denial was contained in a statement he made available to DAILY POST in Abuja on Sunday, stressing that the five Mini LNG Plants in question, including Prime LNG, NGML/Gasnexus LNG, BUA LNG, Highland LNG, and LNG Arete — are private sector-driven initiatives and are not Federal Government projects.
Jarigbe who represents Cross River North Senatorial District reacted to the recent misconceptions and inquiries raised by concerned Nigerians regarding the citing of the five Mini LNG Plants in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.
According to him, “the allegations made by Kogi Central Lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti on Friday during a telephone interview on a live human rights radio show, popularly known as ‘Brekete Family’ in Abuja while narrating her side of the face-off with the Senate President Godswill Akpabio”, stating that her ordeal was as a result of the citing of 5 Mini LNG in Kogi, was not true.
Natasha had alleged that she was removed as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content due to her influence in siting of Five Mini LNG Plants in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.
Jarigbe insisted the venture which is privately owned could have been driven or coordinated by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, nor were they influenced by any Senator or political entity, revealing that it was a decision taken by private investors.
“Just like myself as Senate Committee Chairman on Gas and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and other members of the National Assembly were invited to partake in the engagements of the projects, our presence,, however had in no way indicated undue influence in the siting of the projects.
“The misconception that the citing of these projects in Ajaokuta was done at the behest of Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan is completely unfounded.
“Natasha’s replacement as Committee Chairman on Local Content was different from her narratives and is in no way connected to the siting of Mini LNG plants in Kogi State.
“As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, I have received numerous inquiries from concerned Nigerians questioning why Ajaokuta was selected as the site for these Plants and I tell them, it was a private investors choice based on profitability and sustainability of their investments.”
Jarigbe urged his colleagues to be of good behaviour, noting that immunity in the Senate ends within the confines of the Senate Chambers