AKK: 6 years, multiple deadlines, no gas
The Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna pipeline (AKK) project was conceived to improve gas supply across the country, beginning from the North. That was the promise made to Nigerians when the project was flagged off in 2020. But six years later, its operation is still hinged on hope, as insecurity, financial constraint and geography have continued to delay its […]
The Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna pipeline (AKK) project was conceived to improve gas supply across the country, beginning from the North. That was the promise made to Nigerians when the project was flagged off in 2020. But six years later, its operation is still hinged on hope, as insecurity, financial constraint and geography have continued to delay its fruition.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which is the financier, said it had reached a 98 per cent completion rate as the pipeline laying had been completed from Ajaokuta in Kogi State to Kano State.
The NNPCL, however, said effort was focused on above-ground facilities that would aid off-take and effective monitoring of the gas flow; meaning that there is no clear date on when the project would kick off.
But the spokesperson of the oil company told Weekend Trust that it is considering September this year for commissioning.
Checks by Weekend Trust showed that major gas stations and terminals to be constructed along the pipeline’s corridor were yet to start, with the exception of the Ajaokuta axis.
At Ajaokuta, it was learnt that private investors have begun constructing terminals and stations to off-take gas to other parts of the North as it is the only feasible way to evacuate gas to be supplied through the pipeline.
According to a source, this model is to ease availability of gas while construction of ancillary infrastructures continues.
Experts also said the continuous delay in the project was putting Nigeria’s credibility on the line as the AKK is important to the realisation of the Trans-Saharan Pipeline project that would enable Nigeria to supply gas to Europe.
Brief on the AKK
Described as the single biggest gas pipeline project in the history of oil and gas operation in Nigeria, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline is a 40inch by 614km gas pipeline estimated to cost $2.8 billion.
Its history could be traced to 2008 when the federal government approved the Nigerian Gas Master Plan (NGMP) to accelerate the development of gas pipeline infrastructure for domestic and export markets.
The AKK gas pipeline project thus constituted phase 1 of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project. The pipeline will originate from Ajaokuta, traversing Abuja, Kaduna to terminate at a terminal gas station in Kano.
The process for the award of the AKK project started in July 2013 with the advertisement for tenders published by the NNPC in major national newspapers.
The AKK contract stirred controversy in October 2017 following a leaked memo by a former Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, to the late President Muhammadu Buhari on August 30, 2017 alleging a breach of due process in the award.
While the controversy was settled, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its 46th meeting on December 13, 2017, approved the contract valued at over $2.8 billion.
Explaining further during the contract signing for lot 1&3 of the pipeline in April 2018, the late Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, said the AKK gas pipeline was a section of the TNGP under the gas infrastructure blueprint designed to enable the industrialisation of the eastern and northern parts of Nigeria.
He noted that upon completion in 24 months – from June 2020 to June 2022 – the AKK gas pipeline would enable connectivity between the East, West and North, which is currently non-existent.
The company also said the contract was awarded to a consortium of indigenous and Chinese entities under a 100 per cent contractor-financing model with Lot 1, which has a total length of 40inch x 200km, stretching from Ajaokuta to the Abuja Terminal Gas Station, awarded to the OilServe/Oando Consortium with a contract value of $855 million.
Lot 2, which contract agreement is yet to be executed, covers 40inch x 193km, stretching from Abuja to Kaduna with a contract value of $835 million, and Lot 3, which runs from the Kaduna Terminal Gas Station (TGS) to Kano TGS with a total length of 40inch x 221km, was awarded to the Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPP) Consortium under a contract value of $1.2 billion. But it took two years before the government flagged off the project.
How the pipeline would work
The AKK was designed to complement other major domestic gas transmission systems, namely: the Western System, that is the existing 36-inch Escravos-Lagos pipeline I and II with 2.2billion cubic feet per day capacity and the East-West connection via the OB3 pipeline featuring 2.4billion cubic feet per day capacity.
Originating from Ajaokuta in Kogi State and traversing Abuja (FCT), Niger, Kaduna and terminate in Kano, it was stated that it would boost domestic utilisation of natural gas for Nigeria’s social economic development when completed.
It would also unlock 2.2billion cubic feet of gas to the domestic market, support the addition of 3,600 megawatts of power to the national grid and revitalise textile industries which alone boasts of over 3 million jobs in parts of the country.
The AKK project seeks to support the development of petrochemicals, fertiliser, methanol and other gas-based industries, thereby generating employment opportunities and facilitating balanced economic growth.
The NNPCL explained that the right of way for the proposed AKK gas pipeline would run parallel to the existing Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company’s 16 inch-crude oil and 12 inch-product pipelines wherever possible.
How the project missed multiple deadlines
During the flag-off, the government had promised that the project would be completed in 24 months, which translates into June 2022.
The deadline was later moved to 2023. In November 2023, the then NNPC’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Oritsemiyiwa Eyesan, had said the project would be ready for commissioning in December 2023. However, in June 2024, the then former NNPC’s CEO, Mele Kyari, announced that the new completion date for the project was December 2024 while the project contractor, Oilserv Limited, had committed to completing it in July or August 2024.
Media reports in 2024 that the project had stalled due to the pullout of Chinese investors made Kyari to disclose that the completion was shifted to the first quarter of 2025.
Kyari was quoted to have said: “We are committed to developing gas infrastructure across the country, but we are faced with some challenges that have affected the timeline. We now expect the AKK pipeline to be ready for commissioning in the first quarter of 2025.”
In February, NNPCL’s Executive Vice President for Gas, Power & New Energy, Olalekan Ogunleye, said the first batch of gas would flow through the pipeline by July 2026.
The claim was also amplified by a report by Reuters in April, quoting an in-house magazine of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) thus: “We are hoping that by July gas would be delivered to Abuja through the AKK gas pipeline.”
Kano terminal project not progressing
In Kano, Weekend Trust gathered that the AKK terminal project located at Magami village in Tamburawa has not progressed beyond the fencing of the 1.8 square kilometres site, 13 months after the initial date of the project completion lapsed.
When our reporter visited the project site, he discovered that only barbed wire was added to the fence of the site months after his previous visit.
The site remains the same with only security towers, a generator room, toilets and office cubicles, as well as solar panels with batteries to provide electricity to the site.
Although no official was met on the site, a security guard attached to the facility, who gave his name as Ali Musa, said he was employed during the 2025 fasting period to look after the place.
He said a company called Enbridge Construction was awarded the contract for building of the terminal but he was not aware of the completion deadline or any other details of the contract.
He said an expanse of land next to the terminal site had also been earmarked for construction of a second AKK terminal.
Our reporter met a few labourers on the new site digging the foundation for the fence, with equipment brought to the site.
A demolition notice was also seen on a wall erected by an unidentified individual close to the new site.
It would be recalled that the laying of pipeline had reached 500 metres to the terminal, but the building is yet to be completed, let alone commence operations.
Reports had it that the laying of pipes between Kaduna and Kano had almost been completed with a booster station at Kofa town in Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano State.
The Kano State Government had raised a special committee headed by the state’s Commissioner for Transport, Muhammad Ibrahim Diggol, who has been replaced with Haruna Dederi, a lawyer, to identify companies with potentials of investments in power plants to fully utilise the project. The committee is also mandated to mobilise off-takers once the project is completed and becomes operational.
The committee has been engaging the critical stakeholders like the Kano Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (KACCIMA), the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) and others with investment potentials. It has also been collating data and profiles of companies that may contribute to the viability of the project.
When completed, the project can transport two billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to independent power plants in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and other gas-based industries and commercial off-takers along the pipeline route.
Information on the project’s signpost on the Kano-Zaria highway is titled: “AKK Gas Pipeline Project Segment, Camp 3, Tamburawa, Kano; Contractor: Bentex CPP Consortium; Project management consultants: National Engineering and Technical LTD (NETCO), and ILF Consulting Services; Client: Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company, a subsidiary of NNPCL.”
Challenges in Kogi before pipeline completion
Weekend Trust reports that Oilserv Group of Companies, which oversaw the Kogi flank of the project, laid the pipeline across five local government areas – Ajaokuta, Okene, Adavi, Lokoja and Kogi – to link up to the Abaji end in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT.
While it was learnt that this has been completed, the company had to surmount some challenges, which also contributed to the six-year delay.
A beehive of activities were observed when our reporter visited various mini-sections at Ajaokuta, Kabba junction, Lokoja and Koton Karfe; with their main depot around Osara feeding each site from this axis for smooth operation.Since last year, it was noted that the work on the project picked up at full swing, simultaneously across the communities in the five local government areas.
As at the end of August, it was established that the company had relatively covered the Ajaokuta-Adogo-Okene flank with the gas pipe. It improved from Okene to Osara-Irekpeni to Kabba junction, where it linked up to the Lokoja-Kotonkafe axis.
The momentum is said to be sustained from Iresugbe settlement after successfully crossing the River Niger to Okpaka, after Kotonkarfe toward Abaji in the FCT, the company’s terminating point.
It was established that after unsuccessful trials, the engineers of the contracting firm had a breakthrough in crossing the pipeline through River Niger at Kotonkarfe between July and August last year in a technical operation.
According to an engineer of the company who does not want his name mentioned as he is not authorised to speak to the press, the crossing of the pipeline through River Niger was one of the most challenging technical issues of the entire route that was overcome.
“Initially, we met a brick wall in our attempt to cross the pipeline under the water of River Niger. Different approaches were adopted without much success until the introduction of the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) technology that gave us the needed breakthrough,” he said.
Apart from the River Niger crossing breakthrough, physical geography, infrastructure, kidnapping and the alleged technical capacity were said to have also delayed the project. Another engineer on one of the sites explained how the company made significant progress despite the initial teething challenges. “We worked hard to meet up the completion deadline as spelt out and agreed on inauguration; but the company started encountering these challenges shortly after kicking off operation in the axis.
“Initially, kidnappers were terrorising our staff, particularly at Ajaokuta depot and other areas. Some of them were abducted, with many injured in attacks.
“The incessant threats brought the activities to a standstill for some months. We resumed work after adequate security was provided. As such, a lot of time, energy and space of work were lost during the period. The natural physical features of the areas have also been frustrating smooth operation.
“The areas are replete with rocks, stones, mountains, hills, rivers and valleys which need special expertise.
Among others, critical areas hit by obstacles of nature and infrastructure include Ajaokuta, Lokoja and the Kotonkarfe axis of the project,” the engineer noted.
Pipelines completed, but… – NNPCL
Speaking to Weekend Trust, the NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, said the entire AKK mainline had achieved a 98 per cent completion status.
According to him, the milestone reflects the substantial progress across the entire scope of the pipeline, including the successful laying of the pipeline network, which now extends to Kano but excludes the stations.
While stating that there is no particular date for the commissioning of the project due to non-completion of the above ground infrastructure, he added that September is the tentative date the company is proposing.
“Currently, construction efforts are focused on above-ground facilities and intermediate pigging stations, which are critical for the operational integrity and efficiency of the pipeline. These ancillary structures, particularly along the Kaduna and Kano corridor, are being expedited.
“Regarding the 98 per cent completion figure, it is important to clarify that this applies to the overall pipeline (Ajaokuta to Kano) and not exclusively to the Ajaokuta–Gwagwalada axis. The pipeline infrastructure itself is in place, and the remaining work is concentrated on ancillary systems that support safe and sustainable gas transmission,” Odey said.
On the delay, he said the project’s phased approach was designed to ensure that gas delivery begins as soon as possible, even as finishing touches are applied to other sections.
“The first gas is being prioritised along the off-take axis, starting with early gas from Ajaokuta to Gwagwalada. This phased model allows for the gradual activation of other off-take points based on economic viability and operational readiness,” he explained.
On when the project will start supplying gas, he noted that the timeline was tied to the completion of the above-ground facilities and the successful testing of the pipeline system.
“While we are unable to provide an exact date at this time, we remain committed to commissioning the project in the near term, with first gas to Gwagwalada expected to flow on a phased basis as each segment becomes operational. Plans are on to have gas in by September 2026,” he added.
‘Delay will impact economy, financing, others’
Speaking to Weekend Trust, an energy economist, Bala Zakka, expressed disappointment in how it took long for the project to be completed. He said he was excited when the project was awarded, but it has turned into frustration as other countries are maximising their gas to develop.
“As an oil and gas expert, I feel very sad because I have practised in different parts of the world. What is happening with the gas project, pipeline project in Nigeria, is not happening like that in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Norway, Iraq or Iran that are all endowed with crude oil and gas.
“What is happening in Nigeria doesn’t make experts like us feel proud because we go to other countries to give lectures and guide them on how to utilise their crude oil and gas.
“When we see that there is political docility in Nigeria, we don’t feel happy. Most importantly, as somebody who is from the northern flank of Nigeria, I feel very disappointed because I know the extent to which gas would have transformed so many things about the economic base of the region.
“I know the effect it is going to have as far as job provision is concerned. I know the effect it is going to have when it comes to power generation and boosting the general aggregate economy of northern Nigeria, and by extension, the entire Nigeria,” he said.
He also said that if the country had fixed its pipeline infrastructures as planned, Nigeria could have been feeding Europe and some parts of Africa.
He added that it is very unfortunate that improper political planning had affected all the administrations the country has had since the civilian era to look at infrastructure as a long-term development for the country.
“Leaders are supposed to be visionary, to think and plan generationally. I am not saying that because you are a leader you must be a medical doctor, engineer, journalist and an accountant. No. But we will expect you to be a visionary leader and surround yourself with supporting lieutenants. It is either that our leaders are not visionary or they didn’t surround themselves with good lieutenants that would help them to achieve national objectives and goals,” he said.
He added that if the project was executed when it was conceived in 2008, it would have cost less than when it was awarded.
He said that even with construction, the project would cost more in Naira as inflation and devaluation has affected the currency from when it was initiated.
According to him, it is common that infrastructure projects often cost twice more than the initial budget due to lack of foresight by political leaders on choosing competence in getting projects done.
“There is what we call cost of capital; that means the interest will be going up, and the price you are supposed to get that equipment when the exchange rate was probably N200 to a dollar but now N1,300 to a dollar will go higher. Imagine if this project had been completed when the exchange rate was probably N400 to a dollar. So, it is clear that the delay is not in the interest of Nigeria,” he also said.
On his part, Professor Dayo Ayoade, an energy law expert at the University of Lagos, noted that the Nigerian government was focused on developing the gas sector with the national gas policy, gas master plan, natural gas expansion programme, among others.
He said the most important was the decade of gas, which is set to be achieved from 2021 to 2030, adding that the Nigerian government had put its credibility at stake to make the country become a gas-fired economy.
According to him, the delay on the AKK project is sad news because it is not in accordance with government’s plans, and has huge legal, economic and strategic implications.
“Let’s not forget that the AKK pipeline is to connect Ajaokuta, Kaduna, Kano in order to improve gas supplies across the country, industrialise the economy, clearing and improving national energy security. This means that the longer the delay remains, the higher the risk to the Nigerian government,” he said.
He said the delay would impact on the supply of LPG and CNG because they were needed as a cheaper alternative to diesel.
He also said the delay would impact on the loan payment because Nigeria would be subject to problems in finding alternative sources to service the loans, thus potentially higher interest payments.
“Basically, there is a whole refinancing risk involved because lenders may lose confidence in the ability of the Nigerian government to deliver,” he noted.