The President Muhammadu Buhari administration in Nigeria is revamping the power sector in Nigeria by completing abandoned projects, Promoting off-grid/renewable initiatives and ensuring robust consumer protection for on-grid electricity consumers.
APC Legacy Awareness and Campaign group, a group in Nigeria’s governing party, the All Progressives Congress, said this in a press statement signed by its leaders; the APC national youths leader, Ismael Ahmed, Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) Salihu Lukman, a former APC National Publicity Secretary Mr. Lanre Issa-Onilu and a presidential media aide Tolu Ogunlesi.
Amongst the efforts to improve power supply in Nigeria, the Legacy group said is the completion of one of the biggest power plants in the country – the Zungeru Hydropower Plant by the end of 2021.
According to the APC group, some of the inherited abandoned projects that have been completed in 2020 are the 40MW Kashimbila Dam and Hydropower Plant; the 10MW Katsina Wind Farm; and the 30MW Gurara Hydroelectric Power Plant.
Among the new projects started by the 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.”
The group said the new plant has been sold, alongside the neighbouring Afam Power Plc (966MW installed capacity), to Transcorp Plc.
Other projects include the National Mass Metering Programme which was launched in August 2020, the Solar Power Naija launched in April 2021 to deliver 5 million off-grid solar connections to Nigerian households and the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), also known as The Siemens Power Programme.
The group also pointed out that the government is also working on supplying clean and reliable energy (Solar and Gas) to Federal Universities and Federal Teaching Hospitals across the country, and it has succeeded in 4 universities across Nigeria ; BUK (Kano), FUNAI (Ebonyi), ATBU (Bauchi) and FUPRE (Delta).
The APC group noted that the government is also carrying out several financial interventions in form of grants, electricity pricing reform and other programmes.
Policies to improve the sector has not been left out in the reform, according to the APC Legacy Campaign group, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is more actively rising up to its regulatory responsibilities.
“In 2019 it issued an Order capping estimated billing by DisCos. Most recently (July 2021) it has issued a Consultation paper on the Review of Customer Protection Regulations in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, and is inviting the input of citizens and stakeholders as it works to strengthen these consumer protection frameworks” the group said.
The APC group noted that the Buhari Administration is laying a solid foundation for uninterrupted power supply in every part of the country in the near future.
Bilkisu Pai
