News

NNPCL: Buhari Launches Oil Drill At Chad Basin, Targets 732m Barrels

Published

2 years ago

May 23, 2023

Five years after the search for oil at the Lake Chad Basin was suspended, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday flagged off the Wadi-B drilling campaign with the well expected to yield 732 million barrels of crude oil in the coming years, if successful.

The search for oil in the Chad Basin was suspended in 2017 after Boko Haram terrorists adopted scientists and geologists working for a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, leaving some dead.

The Wadi-B well is located in Tuba Community, Jere Local Government Area, 50km away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Speaking virtually at the flag-off, President Buhari said the event marked the formal resumption of physical activities and the exploration of crude oil and gas in the Chad Basin area.

He noted that while search for oil began in the region in 1976, it was not until 1985 that sub-commercial gas was discovered.

While expressing optimism that the re-entry of NNPC Limited into the Basin would yield better results, he stated that successes recorded in the Komani oil field and Ebenyi-A Oil Well in Nassarawa State were clear indicators of success in the Wadi-B oil field.

Also speaking at the event, the Group CEO of NNPC Limited, Mele Kayri expressed confidence that the drilling campaign will be successful, adding that the last oil drill performed at the Basin was done in 1995.

He explained: “We stopped drilling here in 1995 because the successes were weak, and findings were not commercial. We understood very clearly that we have to understand the Basin very well, we need to have a different approach to exploration activities in this Basin.

“That is why NNPC and her partner, the NUPRC, decided to embark on a data review on all the frontier basins in the country and our findings have been useful. Our understanding of the ridge system in Nigeria has enabled us to have successful outcomes in the Kolmani area and enabled us to mobilise to Nasarawa State.

“Now we are back here and we are much more confident, and we believe that this campaign will be successful”, the NNPC Limited boss added.

On his part, the Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Engr Gbenga Komolafe disclosed that the drill was expected to yield about 943 billion barrels of crude oil if successful.

He explained that the OPL 732 well is part of the Federal Government’s effort to boost Nigeria’s crude oil reserves from the current 37 billion barrels to 40 billion barrels by the year 2030.

Also speaking, the Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, observed that the project would have a positive impact on the socio-economic status of the state.

He, therefore, pledged the support of the state government and local communities for the success of the project.

Giving a technical detail of the project, the Executive Director, Frontier Exploration Services, NNPC Limited, Mukhtar Zanna explained the drilling will reach a depth of 14km using the ACME rig.

Zanna pointed out that geologists have seen many potential reservoirs “and that’s what we are here to prove that the hydrocarbon here could be oil, gas or both”.

According to him, “We are very optimistic (of finding hydrocarbons in commercial quantity) because we reviewed the data, and also deployed new technologies”.
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News

Bumper Harvest: Foundation Distributes 6,000 Fertilizers To Farmers In Bauchi

Published

9 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

A group, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation has donated 6,000 50kg bags of fertilizer to farmers in Bauchi state in order to have a bumper harvest.

Speaking during the flag off ceremony of the distribution of the fertilizers on Thursday, Mr Abubakar Mohammed, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, said the distribution was only for the indigent farmers in the state.

He said the fertilizers would be distributed to farmers in underserved communities across the three Senatorial Districts of the state.

“We are gathered here to flag off the free distribution of fertilizers to farmers, especially the indigent farmers that don’t have the means to buy fertilizer for their farms.

“That is the reason why the founder of this foundation bought the fertilizers and distributed them to the low income farmers in the state.

“We have gone round the nooks and crannies of the state to identify the underserved communities and those that deserve this particular gesture.

“We planned to distribute about 6,000 bags of fertilizer and due to the populous nature of the Bauchi LGA, they have the largest share but some other local governments too have hundreds of beneficiaries which we divided into Senatorial zones,” he said.

According to him, today was the flagging off of the Bauchi South Senatorial District, adding that the extension of the gesture would commence in Bauchi North and Bauchi Central Senatorial Districts tomorrow.

Mohammed explained that the only criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries were underserved communities and low income farmers, adding that “we know that a large number of the farmers in Bauchi state are low income farmers.

“Those are the people that we identified, verified and they are our beneficiaries and we have warned the general public about the activities of some unscrupulous elements that go round to impersonate our foundation.

“Wunti Al-Khair Foundation is not charging a kobo for every part of its activities, be it education, healthcare, economic empowerment and community development”.

Responding, one of the beneficiaries, Emmanuel Samson, described the support as a timely intervention that would greatly enhance his farming activities and appreciated the foundation for the intervention.

Another beneficiary, Salisu Maidawa, who was short of words for the gesture, said the gesture came at a time when he was in dire need of it.

News

IYC Urges Tinubu To Sack NCDMB Boss

Published

9 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Western Zone, has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for allegedly not “keeping up to the fundamental mandate,” upon which the agency was established.

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Comrade Nicholas Igarama, Comrade Ebi Joshua Olowolayemo, and Comrade Tare Magbei, Western Zone
Chairman, Secretary, and Information Officer respectively, and made available to newsmen in Warri on Thursday, August 14, 2015.

According to the IYC, the call for Ogbe’s sack becomes necessary following his incompetence and ethnic bias, adding that Ogbe has turned the agency meant for the whole Niger Delta to his Itsekiri ethnic group alone.

The IYC, while noting that efforts to meet the NCDMB Executive Secretary to discuss critical issues as they affect the region and its people have proved abortive, said it can no longer fold it arms and watch while things go from bad to worse.

“As Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Ogbe has consistently failed to input his supposed industry track record in the advancement of the mandate upon which the agency was founded.

“He has continually had a sectional engagement with his fellow Itsekiri Kits and Kin, thereby shutting all other ethnic nationalites in the Niger Delta region out.

“Repeatedly, he avoided critical youth engagement in the region while sponsoring that of his Itsekiri ethnicity through different human capacity development initiatives, while other ethnic nationalites are left unattended.

“As Ijaw, mostly from the western flank where Engr. Ogbe also hails from, we will not sit and watch others benefit from the resources that we produce without our practical involvement to better the lives of our people as well.

“It is on record that the leadership of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Western Zone has tried to establish communication with Engr. Ogbe, for the last ten months, but every medium of communication to get his attention has fundamentally proven to be abortive.

“As youths, we can no longer have leaders in office who have now equated themselves to demi-god and have refused to attend to most significantly youthful issues in the Niger Delta Region.

“To this end, we therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinibu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, who has consistently displayed disregard for critical actors in the Niger Delta and has also exhibited the highest level of gross inefficiency by not keeping up to the fundamental mandate upon which NCDMB was founded,” the statement reads.

The IYC also called for the probe Ogbe as Executive Secretary after his sack.

Efforts to reach Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, NCDMB, for reaction proved abortive.

News

I’m Being Impersonated – Goodluck Jonathan Disowns Social Media Account

Published

12 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday said he is being impersonated by fraudsters.

Jonathan alleged that a fraudulent Instagram handle has been impersonating him.

In a statement by his Media Aide,
Ikechukwu Eze, the former President insisted that he does not operate any Instagram handle.

The statement is titled ‘Beware of fake Instagram account impersonating H.E. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’.

“Our attention has been drawn to a fraudulent Instagram account operating under the handle goodluck_ebelejonathan, which is falsely impersonating former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

“This impostor account has been deceitfully posting content, some copied from Dr. Jonathan’s Facebook page, while pretending to represent the former President.

“We wish to emphasise that Dr. Jonathan does not operate any Instagram account.

“The media and members of the public are strongly advised to disregard, avoid sharing, or promoting any content originating from this fake profile,” the statement read.