President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday signed the bill establishing the University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State, into law.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, who announced this for his principal, said the President, at the brief ceremony, pledged continued support for the socio-economic development of the Niger Delta region.

He said the president appealed to all communities in the region to strive for peace through dialogue in resolving all conflicts not only among them, but also with business entities and the authorities.

“This administration is fully committed to supporting the Niger Delta in its endeavours to achieve socio-economic development,” Buhari was quoted as saying.

With the signing of the bill into law, the path has been cleared for the establishment of the specialised university in the Niger Delta, charged with training and research in petroleum technologies.

The Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE) was established and approved by the Federal Executive Council meeting of 14 March 2007 and admitted its first set of undergraduates in 2008.

The university was established under the Federal Government of Nigeria initiative to build a specialized university in the Niger Delta to produce manpower and expertise for the oil and gas sector.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) approved sharing of facilities between the Petroleum Training Institute Effurun and FUPRE until it moved to its permanent site on development of its main campus at Ugbomro, Uvwie Local Government Area in 2010.