The Chairman of the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme and Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; the Honourable Minister of Power; the Special Adviser to the President on Power; the Director-General of the Debt Management Office; the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises; the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation; the Managing Director of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, represented here today; our transaction advisers; distinguished investors, representatives of financial institutions, development partners, colleagues from the public and private sectors, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

Retreats are where institutions come closest to being honest with themselves. They are an opportunity to ask not simply how we are performing, but whether we are becoming the institution Nigeria needs us to be. That is how I intend to use my time with you today. Let me begin by congratulating the Commission and indeed Nigeria, on two signi cant milestones. First, the one-billion-dollar commitment by Esso and its partners towards on block activities for the Usan In ll Project, the company’s rst major deepwater investment in Nigeria in a decade, which will unlock up to 40,000 more barrels of oil per day.

SPECIAL ADDRESS BY OLU AROWOLO VERHEIJEN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT ON OIL AND GAS AT THE 25TH NOG ENERGY WEEK CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, HELD AT THE BOLA AHMED TINUBU INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE (ICC), ABUJA, JULY 7, 2026