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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, at the weekend, disclosed the reason the federal government entered into $2.3 billion electricity deal with the German government, saying that it was for the purpose of transforming Nigeria’s transmission and distribution sector.
Speaking at the 4th Ministerial media briefing in Abuja at the weekend, Adelabu stated that the delayed take-off of the project was because of COVID-19 that ravaged the world’s economy at the time.
He also pointed out that the mastermind of the project, former Chief of Staff to the then president, Malam Abba Kyari, died in the process.
“After that came election which ushered in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. “The project was supposed to proceed in two phases, but the pilot phase only progressed significantly once a new government emerged. In November 2023, during the visit of the German Chancellor to Nigeria, one of the issues discussed was the need to continue with the project. Recently, there was an African Business Summit in Germany, which was attended by the president, and I was privileged to accompany him to the summit.
“During the summit, we had extensive conversations with our German counterparts regarding the project, and we were both convinced that it would benefit both countries to proceed with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
We agreed to sign an acceleration agreement to kick-start the project again.
“In December 2023, at COP 28 in Dubai, an affiliation agreement was signed between the federal government, the German Government, Siemens Energy, and FGN Power Company Limited. Following this, we commenced the project analysis, and I am pleased to inform you that we are almost through with the project’s pilot phase.
“The pilot phase involved the offshore importation of 10 power transformers and 10 mobile substations to be used as a Proof of Concept (POC) for these projects. All these items have arrived in the country.
“I can confirm that we have installed and commissioned five out of the 10 transformers. I oversaw the installation of these power transformers at various locations across the country. We have also installed three out of ten mobile substations, with seven more to go. Once we finish installing them, we will commission and energize them. At that point, Nigerians will begin to see the impact of this project.
So, we are fully convinced that with the success recorded as the pilot phase of this project, we are moving forward unperturbed on the remaining phases of these projects. The phases include transforming our transmission segment or network by expanding the transmission capacity and strengthening the transmission to avoid the current fragility that leads to persistent grid collapse” he said.
