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Power Ministry Gets N323.15 Billion for Projects

24th Feb. '09

Nigeria's ministry of power is to immediately receive 323.15 billion naira for power projects aimed at achieving 6,000 megawatts of power generation in the country by the end of 2009, a senior official said Monday.

Gabriel Suswam, governor of northern Benue state, and a member of the council of the National Integrated Power Project, or NIPP, said the money will be drawn from the $5.37 billion which the National Economic Council approved for power sector projects in June, 2008. The $5.37 billion will come from the country's excess crude oil account that belongs to federal, state and local governments.

Nigeria, in August 2008, announced a three-year plan to resuscitate its ailing power sector. It plans to generate a total of 6,000 megawatts by the end of 2009 and at least 10,000 megawatts by 2011. The country of 140 million currently generates about 3,000 megawatts of power, leaving offices, homes and industries susceptible to regular blackouts. Suswam said the NGN323.1 billion would be used for power generation, transmission and distribution projects.

"By December 2009, Nigerians will be smiling because we will be able to achieve 6,000 megawatts of electricity in the country," Suswam said. He said vice president Goodluck Jonathan, head of the NIPP council, which held a meeting Monday, would lead a delegation to inspect some of the power projects. President Umaru Yar'Adu, who took office in May of 2007, has vowed to improve power generation and supply in Nigeria, a major crude oil producer. He has repeatedly said he would declare a national emergency in the power sector, but hasn't done so yet.

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