Nigeria's state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has announced that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) natural gas pipeline has reached the federal capital, Abuja, marking a significant construction milestone in one of West Africa's largest midstream infrastructure projects. Phased commissioning is planned for later this year, with the Niger State section of the corridor scheduled for completion before year-end. The announcement was made by NNPC Executive Vice President for Gas, Power, and New Energy Olalekan Ogunleye at the Energy Business Development Forum held in Minna, Niger State.
The AKK project is a $2.8 billion, 40-inch trunk line stretching 614 kilometres from Ajaokuta in Kogi State to the northern industrial hub of Kano. The pipeline is designed to route domestic natural gas through central and northern Nigeria, connecting gas suppliers to regional industrial off-takers via intermediate facilities and terminal stations. Progress had been held back by extended delays, but momentum accelerated following the technically complex crossing of the River Niger last year — a feat NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari credited to contract restructuring and industry collaboration.
The forum in Minna was themed around accelerating domestic gas utilisation and compressed natural gas (CNG) expansion, signalling the strategic direction Nigerian authorities intend for the pipeline once operational. Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago used the occasion to announce a 1,000-square-kilometre Industrial Development Park designated along the AKK pipeline corridor in the state. The governor cited agro-allied, petrochemical, and fertiliser sectors as primary investment targets within the park, underscoring the economic multiplier ambitions attached to the infrastructure project.
The AKK pipeline represents a cornerstone of Nigeria's broader domestic gas monetisation strategy, seeking to redirect gas that might otherwise be flared or exported toward local power generation and industrial use. The phased commissioning approach reflects both the project's geographic scale and the engineering complexities encountered during construction. Completion of the full corridor — from Ajaokuta through Abuja, Niger State, Kaduna, and ultimately Kano — is expected to unlock meaningful volumes of gas for industries that have long operated below capacity due to energy shortfalls in northern Nigeria. The industrial park announcement along the corridor suggests that off-take infrastructure and downstream demand are being developed in parallel with the pipeline itself.
