Follow Us on Google
Benue State Government has commenced plans to build a hydropower project worth approximately $4 billion in Makurdi to boost electricity supply across the state.
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Benue Investment Promotion Agency (BENIPA), Dr Johnpaul Kpenkaan, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing newsmen on the activities of the agency since its establishment two years ago.
He stated that the project is conceived as a major energy infrastructure projected to generate 1,650 MW of electricity and irrigation capabilities with implications extending beyond Benue State.
He added that the size of the project shows that it must be subjected to the highest level of technical, financial, legal, environmental, social and fiscal scrutiny, saying that the Makurdi Hydropower Project demonstrates how BENIPA prepares an opportunity of exceptional scale.
Kpenkaan said the agency had facilitated investment commitments valued at approximately US$4.55 billion across 12 major public-private partnership and structured investment transactions in 2025.
He explained that the US$4.55 billion represents the estimated value of facilitated commitments in the portfolio as at the end of 2025, saying it is not cash received by the state, capital already deployed or revenue already earned.
The Executive Secretary said the 12 transactions also stood at different stages, as some had signed agreements, while some were undergoing feasibility work or due diligence and others remained at earlier preparation stages.
He explained that the portfolio covers agro-processing, energy, mechanised agriculture, hospitality, community infrastructure and legacy-asset recovery. BENIPA hosted targeted investor engagements, including a mini-investment forum supported by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, with a guided visit involving 15 investors.
According to him, the agency is also supporting Benue to position itself in strategic agricultural value chains, including the Federal Government’s national soybean production expansion initiative.
“BENIPA has begun the whole-of-government preparation required for that scrutiny. We have engaged eight relevant ministries, departments and agencies; trained 28 director-cadre civil servants to work with the project data vault, a controlled digital repository for technical, financial and regulatory information; and guided the participating institutions to review and assemble the project information relating to their respective mandates.
“Preparations are advanced for a statewide technical retreat to screen the proposal, identify evidence gaps and agree the recommendations to be presented through the required institutional approval process.
Other News
“Subject to those reviews and approvals, the unsolicited proposal may proceed to a transparent Swiss Challenge at the procurement stage. This competitive market test will allow other qualified parties to challenge the proposal and help the state secure value for money before the transaction advances through the remaining structuring and procurement stages.
“This is not yet an approved, financed or implemented project. It is a major opportunity undergoing disciplined project preparation. That distinction is precisely what responsible investment delivery requires.
“The wider lesson is that an expression of interest is only an opening, and a memorandum of understanding records intention. Neither is proof of financing or implementation. Our responsibility is to keep testing each opportunity until it becomes a credible transaction or is set aside,” he said.
On the National Food City Complex, the Executive Secretary said the project demonstrated how disciplined preparation can move a transaction from proposal to agreement and towards implementation.
He further disclosed that the National Food City Complex is a proposed US$250 million integrated agro-industrial development in the Otukpo axis, with a wider project footprint extending towards Obi and Ado Local Government Areas.
“It is to be delivered with Rexzodeneh Group Limited under a design, build, operate and transfer model. The transaction did not begin with a ceremonial signing. Provisional approval was granted by His Excellency in July 2024.
“A memorandum of understanding in April 2025 commenced formal structuring. BENIPA then led negotiations and coordinated technical, financial, legal and environmental input across 13 ministries, departments and agencies. On 9 May 2025, the state and the investor executed the public-private partnership agreement, the first formal agreement of its kind in Benue’s 50-year history.
“The next challenge was conversion from agreement to an implementable project. The land and community process progressed, and the site was formally handed over to the investor in January 2026 with a directive to commence preliminary works.
“On 2 September 2026, the State Executive Council approved the relevant implementation step presented to it. On 7 September, the parties executed the Financial Close Agreement at a ceremony presided over by His Excellency, represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Sam Ode. On 18 September, the access-road contract was awarded.”
He told newsmen that the contractor has been mobilised and preparatory work is advancing and the formal groundbreaking is planned.
He said: “These milestones matter because an agreement is not the same as implementation. Conversion requires approvals, land access, financing arrangements, enabling infrastructure, contractor mobilisation and continued compliance. Each milestone reduces a different category of risk.”
