· FG to expend $5.72bn Chinese loan for 3050 MWs Mambilla Power Project
By Dwelleth Morountodun
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, on Monday said the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari, has delivered visible results and recorded qualitative progress on the template set for the ministry on assumption of duty in 2015.
The Minister who made the disclosure at the third year anniversary score card briefing of the Buhari administration said government is concluding arrangement to secure a Chinese loan of $5.72 billion for the construction of the Mambilla 3050 MWs power project on 15 percent counterpart funding with 60 months time line.
According to him, the ministry working as a team has improved on the electricity status by increasing generation from 4000 MW to 7000 MW, transmission from 5000 MW to 7000 MW and distribution from 2690 MW to 5,222 MW, adding, that the ministry is still in the process of delivering additional result.
Meanwhile, he stressed that government is expecting to generate 215MWs from Kaduna, Afam 240MWs, Kashimbilla, 40MWs, Gurara 30MWs, Dadinkowa 29MWs, power for 9 Universities, 15 markets and 2 big hydro power plants of 700MW in Zungeru and 3,050MW in Mambilla.
According to him, government is also expecting transmission from 90 projects nationwide with Apo, Mayo Belwa, Damaturu, Maiduguri, Odogunyan and Ejigbo being recently completed ones.
Fashola, said distribution through over 100 injection sub-stations and a distribution expansion programme which will be funded by the government are also are at advanced state of procurement.
He said: “Although there are still people we have not reached, although there are still disruptions from time to time, and although there are still people who also need meters, and we are working to reach them, it is indisputable that we have delivered on incremental power.
”The evidence of our progress is not only captured in the last quarter of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Report for Q2 of 2018 which shows a growth of 7.5% in the electricity sector, previous quarterly reports from 2017, have consistently recorded growth, a clear departure from 2014-2015 and proof of change.”
With regard to the ministry’s mandate on power supply, he added: “I promised that we will improve on the gas supply, increase the transmission capacity, pay MDA debts and generally improve your experience with power supply, first by getting incremental power, then proceed to stable power and hopefully reach uninterrupted power.
“With regard to works, I said: “As at May 2015, many contractors have stopped work because of payment and many fathers and wives employed by them have been laid off as a result. The possibility to return those who have just lost their jobs back to work is the kind of change that we expect to see.”
Wth regard to Housing, he said: “The Housing Sector presents an enormous opportunity for positively impacting the economy to promote not only growth but inclusion. Government will lead the aggressive intervention to increase supply” starting with a pilot.”
“I am proud and happy to report that we have walked our talk, and we have delivered visible results and recorded qualitative progress.
“As I promised you in my inaugural address, it will not just be electricity by numbers, it will be borne out by personal experiences.
“The report of our survey and feedback mechanism confirm that many of you now have public power for longer hours compared to 2015, and you now run generators for shorter periods compared to 2015 and you now spend less money on diesel to power your generators.”
On road construction, the minister said thousands of jobs that were lost have been recovered. The recovery, according to him, is the result of an expansive infrastructure spending that saw works budget grow from N18.132 billion in 2015 to N394 billion in 2018.
The outcome, Fashola added, is that there is not one state in Nigeria today where the government is not executing at least one road project and construction workers are engaged on these sites.
He said: “Difficult or abandoned projects like the 2nd Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Bodo-Bonny Bridge have been brought back to life.
“Sections of Ilorin-Jebba, Sokoto to Jega, Sokoto-Ilela have been completed, while progress of works continues nationwide from Jada to Mayo Belwa, Enugu to Port Harcourt, Lagos to Otta, Ikorodu to Shagamu, Benin to Okene, Lokoja to Abuja, Kano to Maiduguri, Abuja – Kaduna, Kano to mention a few.
“As for housing, permit me to start with public buildings like Federal Secretariats in Zamfara, Bayelsa, Nasarawa and Ekiti where public works are being undertaken, and to mention the Zik Mausoleum in Onitsha which has now been practically completed. Let me also point out that our pilot National Housing Programme has led to a nationwide Housing Construction being undertaken in the 34 states where we have received land.
“No less than 1,000 people are employed on each site apart from the staff of the successful contractors. These sites are an ecosystem of human enterprise, where artisans, vendors, suppliers and craftsmen converge to partake of opportunities and contribute to nation building.”
According to him, these are some of the most vulnerable people for whom the President has delivered, explaining: “Our parastatals like the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) are also contributing.
“Policies like the reduction of equity contribution from 5% to 0% for those seeking mortgage loans of up to N5million, and reduction from 15% to 10% for those seeking loans over N5million are helping to ease access to housing.
“The ministry is also tackling the backlog of issuance of consent and Certificates of Occupany to Federal Government land.
“A total of 1,216 Application for Consent to transfer interests in Land application and 1,300 Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) have been approved and signed respectively as at 25th October 2018.”