- As Power minister appeals to labour not to derail transformation plans over electricity tariff
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Executive Council has approved N96,297,056,103 for the development of bus terminals and other transportation facilities in the federal capital territory, Abuja.
The amount also covers award of contract to Massers Planet Project Limited for the construction of Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, contract for the provision of Security operation and maintenance of back-up generator for the street lights along the Presidential routes and Villa Gate 8 in the Federal Capital City, as well as the upgrade roads in Kwali Area Council.
FCT Minister of State, Mrs Mariya Mahmood, explained that all the due process for the procurement procedure has already been followed and the certificate of no-objection has been obtained for the contracts.
She said, “the first approval is for the award of contract for the development of bus terminal and other transportation facilities in the Capital territory. Secondly, is approval for the award of contract for the construction of Court of Appeal Abuja division. And number three is approval for the award of contracts for the provision of security operations and maintenance of backup generator for the streetlights along presidential routes and villa gate 8, federal capital territory. And lastly, the fourth one is for the upgrading of Koita-Igbu in Kwali Area Council. And all the necessary due process for the procurement procedure has been followed. And certificate of no objection has been obtained for all the awarded approved contract.
Breaking down the figures, the Minister said “I do have costs and the contractors. The first one was awarded at cost of N51,025,172,424.90 and it was awarded in favour of messers Planet Project Limited.
“Then the second one is in favour of Visible Construction Limited at the cost of N37,259,513,881.14 and the upgrading of Kwali-Ibu is at N7.6 billion in favour of El Emad Nigeria limited. For the generator and also the security there are two things attached to that memo.
“The issue of security operation and maintenance of the backup generator is at the cost of N412,352,800 million. It was awarded to Messiah Contract People Limited”, she said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, has appealed to the Organised Labour not derail government’s transformation plan for the power sector, stressing that to achieve the desired service the current sacrifice is required.
He assured that the demands by organised Labour during their protest on Monday are being considered.
Leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had led their members on peaceful protest in different parts of the country, picketing the activities of agencies and institutions under the Power Ministry, demanding the reversal of recent increase in electricity tariff.
However, reacting to the demands by the Labour unions, Adelabu said: “The first question was about the recent Labour unions’ peaceful protest with regards to the recently increased tariffs for Band A customers in Nigeria’s electricity supply industry. Let me first make it abundantly clear that we are in democracy so there are fundamental human rights. I cannot deny people their rights.
“It’s the right of the Labour to protest peacefully and to come up with their demands, from the perspective they saw what we did. It is clearly allowed, it is legitimate and it is understandable. So we cannot stop them from organizing a peaceful protest or laying down their demands. Let me make that clear. President Bola Tinubu’s administration is also a listening government.
“We have heard demands, we’re going to look at it, we’ll make further engagements and I believe we’re going to reach a peaceful resolution with the labor because no government can succeed without the cooperation, collaboration and partnership with the Labour unions. So we welcome the peaceful protest and I’m happy that it was not a violent protest. They’ve made their positions known and government has taken in their demands and we’re looking at it.
“But one thing that I want to state here is from the statistics of those affected by the hike in tariff, the people on the road yesterday, who embarked on the peaceful protests, more than 95% of them are not affected by the increase in the tariff of electricity. They still enjoy almost 70% government subsidy in the tariff they pay because the average costs of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity is not less than N180 today.
“A lot of them are paying below N60 so they still enjoy government’s subsidy. So when they say we should reverse the recently increased tariff, sincerely it’s not affecting them. That’s one position”, he said.
He, however, appealed to the Organised Labour and the entire populace to be patient with the administration in its planned out strategy to restructure the Power sector into a standard and more efficient sector, which delivers the desired service to all Nigerians.
According to him, the current administration was aware of the decayed state of the nation’s Power sector, which he said had been so for almost 60 years, adding that the programme of the Tinubu administration is to correct the situation.
“My appeal again is that they should please not derail or distract our transformation plan for the industry. We have a clearly documented reform roadmap to take us to our desired destination, where we’re going to have reliable, functional, cost-effective and affordable electricity in Nigeria. It cannot be achieved overnight because this is a decay of almost 60 years, which we are trying to correct.
“Nobody promised us or assured us that the road will be smooth. We knew it’s going to be rough, but we must weather the storm, which is going to be temporary. It’s a lot of sacrifice from everybody; from the government’s side, from the people’s side, from the private sector side. So we must bear this sacrifice for us to have a permanent gain.
“I don’t want us to go back to the situation we were in February and March, where we had very low generation. We all felt the impact of this whereby electricity supply was very low and every household, every company, every institution, felt it. From the little reform that we’ve embarked upon since the beginning April, we have seen the impact that electricity has improved and it can only get better.
“So I’m appealing to everybody that one should not toy with this before that we have embarked upon, we are aiming somewhere and we will achieve it”, he said.
Meanwhile, FEC approved for the Ministry of Power three memoranda it presented, all aimed at further strengthening the nation’s power infrastructure nationwide.
According to the Minister of Power, the first approval is for the procurement of 10 transformers and 10 reactors for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) at a total cost of $4.8 million and N102 million naira, saying this will enhance the optimal performance of the national grid, reduce the risk of electrical shock and equipment damage, and protect personnel from the effects of high voltage.
The second approval is for the construction of a 93-kilometer transmission lines at Oji River/9th Mile for the 132 KV double circuit transmission line, at a cost of $33.9 million and N10.1 million naira.
This project will stabilize the national grid and expand its capacity, in line with the national grid expansion plan and the Presidential Power Initiative to increase the end-to-end capacity of the national grid.
The third approval is for the supply and installation of 15 units of emergency restoration systems for 330 KV and 132 KV transmission lines, to enable the quick fixing of vandalized and damaged power infrastructure, valued at $14.
This is a response to the impact of vandalism on power transmission assets, particularly in the Northeast region, where there has been a blackout for the past two weeks due to vandalism.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is working to fix the vandalized assets and restore normalcy to the region by the end of the month.
The emergency restoration system will ensure 24/7 uninterrupted power supply, and the government is committed to ensuring the stability, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness of power supply, as well as planning for future growth.