The recent discovery of oil in Benue State has continued to elicit reactions from top government officials in the state.
Though experts say the discovery has not confirmed whether it is in commercial quantity like that of Lagos, exploration activities in Benue state may be gradually yielding success as a reasonable quantity of crude oil has been discovered.
The deputy governor of the state, Benson Abounu, is already urging the federal government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) not to relent.
But the excitement came as the sole administrator of the Apa local government in the state, Danjuma Solomon, visited the deputy governor to brief him on the discovery of the product in his domain.
Solomon said oil seepage was discovered in his local government and recalled that some exploratory oil wells drilled by Chevron Nig Ltd in the 1960s.
Abounu said, based on results of several geological investigations, the government was convinced that the state had oil and that exploration is just what was needed.
He therefore urged the federal government to intensify the search. In August, 2016 President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to search for oil in state.
