The Federal Government has pledged to facilitate the remobilisation of exploration activities at the Kolmani Oil Field in Bauchi State, four years after the project was inaugurated with commercial production yet to commence.
The Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Muhammad Bello, made the commitment on Monday during a verification visit to the oil field.
Bello said the commission visited the site to assess the current state of the project and advocate for the resumption of exploration activities, stressing that the project was important to Bauchi State, the North-East and Nigeria as a whole.
“We want the momentum of the project that was started in 2023 to return.
“We want to come and verify for ourselves what is going on so that we can advocate for this project, this important project, to continue, so that the people of the North-East of Nigeria can further benefit,” he said.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu was concerned about the project and had assured the governors of Bauchi and Gombe states that efforts would be made to remobilise activities at the oil field.
“We know for a fact that Mr President is very much concerned as far as this project is concerned. We know that he has assured the two governors that there will be mobilisation for the project to continue,” Bello said.
He added that RMAFC would assess the project and submit its findings to the relevant authorities as part of efforts to ensure the resumption of exploration.
“We will go back after assessing what type of project this is and what is going on. We will continue to follow it because we operate by committees, and we will be looking at oil and gas,” he said.
Bello also inspected the ongoing construction of the Bauchi Oil and Gas Academy, commending the state government for establishing an institution capable of producing manpower for the oil and gas sector.
He noted that part of the funds used for the construction of the academy was provided by RMAFC.
Earlier, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Natural Resources, Maiwada Bello, said exploration activities at the Kolmani Oil Field stopped in July 2025.
He said the state government engaged the technical company handling the project after receiving reports that activities had stopped at the site.
“When we came here, actually there was no activity. Shortly after you left, between January 2025 and somewhere around June 2025, July 2025, we received news from the host community that the company operating in this area was demobilising,” the commissioner said.
He said the state government subsequently formed a joint team with the local government and met with the technical company handling the project to discuss the situation.
Maiwada said the RMAFC visit had renewed hope that exploration activities would resume at the oil field, adding that the Bauchi State Government under Governor Bala Mohammed was ready to provide the manpower and other support required for the project.
“Bauchi State under the leadership of Governor Bala Mohammed is ever ready to provide every manpower needed to support the exploration,” he said.
The Kolmani Oil Field was launched in November 2022 and was projected to contain more than one billion barrels of crude oil and about 500 billion cubic feet of gas.
At its inauguration, officials described the project as a major breakthrough capable of catalysing industrialisation in Bauchi and Gombe states, creating thousands of jobs and attracting about $3 billion in integrated investments.
The projected investments were expected to cover upstream drilling, refining, gas processing and power generation.
However, four years after its high-profile inauguration, commercial production has yet to commence, with the project remaining at the appraisal stage despite projected and sunk investments running into millions of dollars.
