The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) has said it has the statutory power to license oil and gas free zones, and has legally created three following due process.
In a statement issued by its Company Secretary, Abdul Sule, the Authority said the Section 5(2) of the OGFZA Act of 1996 empowers it to establish such areas to boost activities in the domestic oil and gas market.
It said the power was transferred to it after its establishment by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).
It dismissed reports that the establishment of oil and gas free zones in Warri, Lagos and Brass were illegal saying the free zones created in Delta, Lagos and Bayelsa states respectively were done following due process.
“These Oil and Gas Free Zones went through the whole gamut of due process and diligence from the applications through ministerial recommendations and culminating in the presidential approval and gazetted by the federal government,” the statement read.
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