By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
Niger state government has called on the federal government to expedite action in prospecting for crude oil in the Bida basin which experts have confirmed to have commercial deposits of hydro carbon.
The state commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa, stated this yesterday in a statement issued in Minna, commending President Mohammadu Buhari for stepping up measures for prospecting and exploitation of crude oil in the Northern region.
Vatsa called on the federal government to remember Bida basin because there had been several intensification of crude oil search with re-invigorated exploration based on fresh strategy.
He explained that the state government had in a bid to ensure successful oil exploration in the region, recently gave full support to the proposal on the Bida Basin Hydrocarbon research that was initiated by the state owned Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL) in 2010.
He explained that the technical team inaugurated by the government of Niger state in conjunction with experts from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has since confirmed in a report that Bida basin has hydro carbon deposit in commercial quantities.
Vatsa said that it the Ministry of Petroleum was aware of the report on Bida Basin, adding that it had become imperative for the state government to remind the federal government of the potentials of the basin in its efforts to discover oil in the Northern region.