Delegates, yesterday, unanimously asked the Federal Government to ensure the stoppage of gas flaring within two years from now and that the power of the Minister of Petroleum to grant waivers on the matter should be withdrawn.

The recommendation came from Isaac Osuoka, a Federal Government delegate, who also called for the punishment of oil firms that did not create the capacity to use associated gas.

Delegates also urged the Federal Government to urgently declare a state of emergency in the power sector to save the economy of the country.

This was contained in the amendment raised by the conference during the debate on the report of the Conference Committee on Energy, which was eventually adopted.

The conference said the nation’s power sector has suffered so much neglect that has affected almost all spheres of the economy. According to delegates, the situation had given rise to a regime of generating sets which it said pollutes the environment.

The conference also asked the Federal Government to review the Petroleum Act of 1969, saying it was the only way to ensure justice and equity.

It also voted that bitumen should be exploited as a veritable energy source for the country just as it urged the government to implement the national gas plan, which is already in existence.

Efforts made by His Royal Majesty, Edmund Dakuro to allow the Minister’s discretion to grant waivers to some oil firms on gas flaring woefully failed as the delegates argued that gas was not being flared in other oil producing countries.

Similarly, the conference also recommended that appropriate laws should be enforced to control indiscriminate cutting of trees to prevent desert encroachment just as it also voted that street lighting across the country should be based on solar energy.