The falling value of Naira and fluctuating exchange rate cannot affect the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project because the contract is an international one denominated in dollars.

The first segment (140 km) of the project from Ajaokuta is to be executed by an indigenous firm-Oilserv Limited.

Its chairman, Engr. Emeka Okwuosa, said : “The project is an international one. We are contracting it in dollars. So we don’t have any mismatch between Naira dollars.”

He made this disclosure to reporters in Ajaokuta in Kogi State, when the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed; Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari; and the Director General, Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha were in the project site on an inspection.

He noted that the company applied 100 per cent local content in the implementation of the project. He said apart from the line pipes from China, all other materials were sourced locally.

Okwuosa cited an example of the Innoson vehicles which the firm deployed  for the project implementation as an instance of the local content.

His words: “Oilserv as a company is 100 per cent a representative of local content. From engineering to procurement we are abiding by it. You can see clearly that the materials we use here, even the vehicles we use, are Nigerian made -Innoson Motors .”

He said his part of the project had been 10 per cent executed.

According to him, “the company applies an automatic welding system even though some other firms are still welding manually.”

He had earlier told reporters that in order to secure the site which is in the middle of the bush; the company adopted a security procedure based on strategy and plan.

He said the firm works closely and in tandem with the community to secure the project.

The firm, he said, employs the local labour and gives them subcontracts to allow them a sense of belonging in the project.

He said: “we do a scan and we know what the issues are. Based on that we deploy the right security. You can see we are working in the middle of the bush but we don’t appear to have a lot of problems.

“We are doing the necessary things because the major thing about security is being in tandem with the community.”

Speaking, the Project Manager, Cheta Okwuosa said fibre optic system would be laid down in the entire length of the pipeline and there will be a Security Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA), which uses a control system to monitor it for action.

With the system, according to him, it is possible to monitor a vandal since the system can record his footprints to prompt attention for the necessary action.

But commenting on the optic fibre detection system, he said: “we build pipelines with fibre optic detection systems. The essence of this is that it is possible for you to even notice somebody approaching the pipeline because the footprint will be recorded even before he starts going to hack the pipeline so action will be taken.”

The Project Manager foreclosed the possibility of vandalizing the pipeline for any economic benefit because one cannot gather gas for use.

He said any attack on the gas pipeline could cause explosions spanning over eight kilometers to consume the vandal.

According to him, after welding the pipes, they will be coated from the joints and lowered three meters deep into the ground.