Tinubu vows to remove obstacles to stable electricity supply in Nigeria

August 05, (THEWILL) – President Bola Tinubu has declared that his administration is poised to address all the obstacles militating against a stable electricity supply in the country.

Tinubu made the declaration in Abuja, on Friday, at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new 350MW Gwagwalada Independent Thermal Power Plant (Phase 1).

The President said his administration will bring solutions to the multifarious challenges across the electric power sector value chain, which will significantly relieve longstanding problems of suppressed demand and improve the steadiness of peak supply for Nigerians.

He urged the NNPC and its partners to deliver the landmark project within the promised three years completion timeline, insisting that “three years must be three years.”

“Although the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is currently characterised by huge supply-gap deficits, owing to dilapidated power infrastructure and poor distributions networks, amongst others, this administration is poised to address every power value chain challenge that will significantly relieve the suppressed demand, enhance generation, and improve national peak growth & sustainability far above the hitherto abysmal and unacceptable 5,300MW for over 200 million Nigerians,” he declared.

President Tinubu noted that a swift improvement in the stability and quantum of energy supply will enhance national economic development, which remains a cardinal priority of the current administration.

“During my electioneering campaign, I made a commitment to Nigerians on providing stable electricity. This is to be achieved by ensuring that we use all available energy sources to boost power generation beyond the current installed capacity of 12,000 megawatts, strengthening the integrity of our transmission infrastructure and ensuring that all distribution bottlenecks are removed.

“We cannot form the productive and industrialised economy we need in order to conclusively tackle poverty, and create thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs for our teeming young people, whose creativity and talent we must harness for national development, without reliable electricity,” President Tinubu declared.

The President expressed his excitement that the landmark project was commencing at the onset of his administration.

“The groundbreaking for the Gwagwalada thermal power plant (Phase 1) is highly significant to the nation, as it marks the first bold step and the beginning of the administration’s concerted efforts to entrench a strong and virile energy foundation for uninterrupted power supply to boost the economy and accelerate industrial growth.

“The Gwagwalada 350MW (Phase 1) project is part of an incremental 3,600MW cumulative power project that is based on market-driven designs along the Abuja, Kaduna and Kano (AKK) gas pipeline corridors, which will further underpin the project’s economic viability while generating multiple foreign direct investments (FDIs) for the nation,” he said.

The President promised to harness the nation’s gas resources, assuring that “this administration will latch onto the global declaration of gas as a ‘transition fuel’ and the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to enhance investments in the oil and gas sector to fully harness the more than 200 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves, which are expected to deepen domestic gas utilisation through improved power generation, establishment of gas-based industries, petrochemical firms, as well as liquified/compressed natural gas (auto-gas) development to catalyze sustainable economic development while creating millions of jobs for the teeming Nigerian populace.”

President Tinubu pledged his administration’s commitment to addressing the power challenges and gas utilization with a clear focus on advancing the diversification of its energy mix.

While commending the NNPCL for leveraging on the established AKK Gas pipeline through this laudable project, President Tinubu charged the NNPCL to ensure the prompt and early completion of the project.

“I would like to commend the efforts of the NNPC Ltd, alongside General Electric and CMEC, for this business partnership initiative and I hereby charge the team to ensure that this three-year project is successfully implemented on the agreed scope, time, and budget,” the President added.

On his part, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Ltd, Malam Mele Kyari, said the NNPC Ltd will leverage the nation’s endowment of gas resources to power the nation’s industrial growth and stimulate ubiquitous job creation, adding that, through the project, the NNPC Ltd would be providing a huge boost to the national grid.