Nigeria’s multi-billion-dollar Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) natural gas pipeline has officially reached the federal capital of Abuja, marking a pivotal milestone in the country's push to expand its domestic energy infrastructure.

The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) announced plans to begin phased commissioning of the major project later this year, following extended delays.

Olalekan Ogunleye, NNPC’s executive vice president for gas, power, and new energy, disclosed the development at the Energy Business Development Forum in Minna, Niger State.

Ogunleye confirmed that construction along the Niger State corridor remains on track for completion before the end of the year.

"The pipeline has reached Abuja and will be commissioned in phases later in the year, with the Niger State section due for completion before year-end," Ogunleye stated in an official NNPC update.

The $2.8 billion project consists of a 40-inch, 614-kilometre (381-mile) trunk line running from Ajaokuta in Kogi State to the northern industrial centre of Kano.

Designed to route natural gas through central and northern Nigeria, the pipeline network includes intermediate facilities and terminal stations to connect gas suppliers with regional industrial off-takers.

Progress on the project accelerated following the complex engineering achievement of crossing the River Niger last year, a feat NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari attributed to contract restructuring and industry collaboration.

Regional governments are already moving to leverage the incoming energy supply.

At the Minna forum, themed around accelerating domestic gas utilization and compressed natural gas expansion, Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago announced a new 1,000-square-kilometer Industrial Development Park sited along the pipeline corridor.

"The State Government has designated an Industrial Development Park within the 1,000-square-kilometre AKK corridor in the state, opening the route to agro-allied, petrochemical and fertiliser investment opportunities," Bago said.

Once fully operational, energy officials expect the pipeline to drive domestic gas consumption, fuel power plants, and stimulate manufacturing investment across northern regions historically isolated from the country's southern gas production hubs.