President Bola Tinubu has asked the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to ensure that the federal government’s national gas infrastructure command centre (NGCC) is implemented strictly under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.
According to a statement by the commission on Monday, the project will be fully funded by the private sector, with no public funding or contingent liability to the government.
Jobson Ewalefoh, director-general of the ICRC, spoke at the inaugural meeting of the project steering committee for the NGCC.
He said the commission would ensure full compliance with the conditions of the presidential approval and established PPP procedures.
Ewalefoh said the NGCC, conceived as a strategic national platform for real-time monitoring and coordination of Nigeria’s gas infrastructure, must be fully financed by the private proponent, without recourse to public funds or sovereign guarantees.
“Technology alone does not guarantee viability. Automation in itself does not make a project bankable. Every proposal must pass through a structured PPP framework that rigorously tests feasibility, risk allocation, affordability and sustainability before implementation proceeds,” Ewalefoh said.
“Public interest, value for money, financial prudence and strict regulatory compliance will guide every stage of this process.”
He added that although the NGCC is of strategic importance to Nigeria’s energy architecture, its significance does not override the need for disciplined project preparation and strict adherence to regulatory safeguards.
According to the statement, the NGCC, approved as a PPP initiative, is designed to provide centralised operational coordination across Nigeria’s gas value chain, strengthen emergency response management and improve transparency in gas infrastructure operations.
On February 26, Ekperikpe Ekpo, minister of state for petroleum resources (gas), inaugurated the project steering committee and the joint technical working group to drive the implementation of the initiative in line with the president’s directive.
Members of the steering committee included representatives of the ministry of petroleum resources (gas), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), the ICRC, and the project promoter.
The joint technical working group comprises technical, legal, and institutional representatives from relevant agencies and the private proponent, and is tasked with advancing preparatory processes in compliance with PPP regulatory requirements.
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