The All Progressives Congress (APC) group, under the aegis of APC Legacy Awareness and Campaign has said that the 700MW Zungeru power plant would be ready next year.
The group stated in a statement signed by the former APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Salihu Lukman, APC Caretaker Committee member, Ismail Ahmed and Tolu Ogunlesi, that Buhari’s administration has revolutionalized the Power Sector like others.
X-raying the achievements made in the Sector, the group said, “President Buhari administration fully acknowledges the vital role of electrification in the development of Nigeria. The APC Legacy Awareness and Campaign, a voluntary think-tank group of the governing party, can report that since 2015, the administration has focused on the following: Completing inherited projects, many of which had been abandoned or facing funding challenges; Resolving the liquidity issues faced by players in the sector; Promoting off-grid/renewable initiatives, especially targeting underserved communities and vulnerable populations; and ensuring robust consumer protection for on-grid electricity consumers. In line with this, the Buhari Administration has embarked on the following programmes and initiatives.
They gave a breakdown of the success achieved in the Power Sector to include: “completion of Inherited and Abandoned Power Projects: Abandoned projects inherited include the 40MW Kashimbila Dam and Hydropower Plant; the 10MW Katsina Wind Farm; and the 30MW Gurara Hydroelectric Power Plant, which has been completed and concessioned to the private sector in 2020. The 700MW Zungeru Hydropower Plant is scheduled for completion at the end of 2021 – it will be one of the biggest power plants in the country.
“New projects started by the APC-led President Buhari administration are the private-sector-led Azura Power Plant in Edo State (460MW), for which the financial close was facilitated in 2015/2016, and which was completed in the first quarter of 2018, several months ahead of schedule. The Buhari Administration also built the Afam Three Fast Power Plant, with a capacity to generate 240MW of electricity. Following a competitive bidding process, that new plant has been sold, alongside the neighbouring Afam Power Plc (966MW installed capacity), to Transcorp Plc, in demonstration of the administration’s belief in the managerial capacity of the private sector.
“The Energizing Education Programme: This was designed to supply clean and reliable energy (Solar and Gas) to Federal Universities and Federal Teaching Hospitals across the country. So far, four Universities have had their power plants completed and commissioned: BUK (Kano), FUNAI (Ebonyi), ATBU (Bauchi) and FUPRE (Delta); while others are ongoing in the first phase of the programme.
The group stated further that the National Mass Metering Programme, which was launched in August 2020, in line with a presidential directive to ensure that all Nigerians receiving electricity from the national grid are metered has earned the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which I said has been tasked with providing the 60 billion Naira for the first phase of the NMMP, with a target of 1 million meter installations. As of May 2021, more than 500,000 meters had been delivered to the Discos, and more than 280,000 installed.
“While we acknowledge that there is still a long way to go in terms of permanently breaking the country’s electricity jinx, the efforts of the Buhari Administration t is contributing significantly in laying a solid foundation for uninterrupted power supply in every part of the country in the near future. For the first time in decades there is the political will to roll out policies, incentives and financing to improve the generation, transmission and distribution of reliable electricity to all Nigerians, including the poorest and most vulnerable among the population. This is President Buhari’s scorecard in the Nigerian power sector, and it is clear that he is walking his talk.”
