From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved a total of N386.75 billion for various projects in the ministries of Power, Police Affairs, Environment, Works and Housing and Transportation.
The Minister Power, Abubakar Aliyu, revealed that the Council approved a memorandum for the provision of alternative power supply to line to Maiduguri, the Borno state capital which, he said, has been disconnected from the national grid for 24 months due to insurgency.
Aliyu said council approved N3.4 billion for the restoration of power supply to Maiduguri, Borno State.
He tole State House Correspondents at the end of this week’s cabinet meeting that: “As you are aware, Maiduguri got disconnected from the national grid due to activities of insurgents. They have been disconnected for over 24 months. About nine months ago or thereabout, we were able to supply Maiduguri through an old line which we resuscitated through the effort of the Borno State government’s rural electrification agency and the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
“They resuscitated a single line of 33 KV from Damaturu, Yobe State and through that we took a very small quantity of electricity which could only give electricity on the 11 KV line. So, we are now trying to supply through another new line, a double circuit 33 KV which can take up to around 40 Megawatts form the Damaturu 330 substation. This is at a cost of N3, 164, 293, 880 plus N250, 000 million for security and other logistics.”
The Minister further revealed that $23.9 was approved for the construction of power substations in Gaidam, Yobe State and Zing in Taraba State.
He further disclosed that he also got approval for the construction of five multimillion dollar one line power substations in Birnin Kudu, Babura and Kazaure in Jigawa State; Nguru, Yobe State; Oro, Kwara State and a 22 kilometre transmission line passing through Birnin Kudu- Missau-Ningi –Azare in Jigawa and Bauchi States.
The council also approved N123.4 billion for remediation and the execution of a power project in Ogoni land, Rivers State.
Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, said, “On behalf of the Ministry of Environment I presented two memos to do with remediation and the power project in Ogoni land. These two projects actually resonate with the Nigerian government and the United Nations’ Environment Programme’s objective of providing succour to the Ogoni people particularly in the areas of livelihood and remediation.
“The first memo is on the remediation of simple hydro-carbon impacted sites in Ogoni land to be carried out by 35 different contractors, with a completion period of 24 months. The cumulative value of the contract is N95, 908, 284, 450.91 billion.
“The second memo also touches on the livelihood of the Ogoni people is the construction of 132 KV 16 kilometres of transmission lines and 260 MVA Power Substations in the phase I of the Ogoni Power Project, approved for N27, 585, 539, 410.13 and it has a completion period of 12 months.”
While also briefing Journalists, Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, disclosed that the Ministry got approval for four memos it presented.
He said: “The first to be approved is in respect of the award of contract for the upgrade of the Data Centre of the Nigerian Ports Authority, its servers, storage and business continuity at the cost of N1, 787, 203, 792.65 inclusive of 7.5 percent Value Added Tax with a completion period of six months.
“The second memo that was approved was for a concession of the Eastern zone offshore West reception facility, in line with international conventions and environmental laws signed by Nigeria, which require that offshore wastes generated by ships be disposed of in an organized manner in order to protect biodiversity and human beings.”
He said when completed, the project will generate $25 million within a period of 20 years.
Mu’azu added that he obtained a similar approval for the Western and Central zones of the maritime domain of Nigeria, for a 10 year period.
He also revealed that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) got approval for the deployment of the modular floating dock acquired by the agency, to be managed under a Public Private Partnership.
“It is going to be managed by a private company that will put in an initial capital investment of $19.5 million for a concession period of 15 years,” he said.
The Minister noted that when fully established and run, the facility will save Nigeria millions of foreign exchange because, the present situation warrants all cabotage vessels operating in Nigeria have to go to Benin Republic and Ghana in order to access their docking services.
