The Federal Government Wednesday blamed the current crisis in the nation’s power sector on acts of sabotage perpetrated by some Nigerians.
Power Minister Abubakar Aliyu said this while addressing State House correspondents after the week’s virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The minister said recent incidents, including fatal attacks and abduction of foreign workers working on various power projects, had stalled work towards the completion of some projects, while other attacks on installations had led to blackouts.
Admitting that the acts of sabotage had deprived the country of investors and development, Aliyu urged Nigerians to join the government in waging war against saboteurs, which he described as a war for all citizens.
“You’re all aware this country is facing a lot of challenges. It’s not only in the power sector alone, you have just heard about the insecurity. The railway and the communities are being attacked; oil pipelines as well. They’re all similar things, including the power sector.
“You can call it sabotage because, how can somebody go and pull down 330 (MW) tower to cause this havoc to the whole country? What do you call that?
“…We announced that we were going to inaugurate the Zungeru 700 MW hydro, which is currently at over 92 per cent completion. We’re just doing little touches to commission the project.
“There was an attack on January 4 and they abducted the Chinese workers. Up till now, they’re still with the captives. The Chinese cannot return to work until they get their brothers out.
“So, they are working minimally. We have three sites on the whole project: the main dam, which, on March 28, we have commissioned one of the turbines and passed it; we did the tests and it has passed; it was celebrated. They are working there in the main hydro.
“Then there is a line of over 30 kilometres to a switch yard. So, they’re not working on the switch yard on the line. If they don’t finish these two, you cannot evacuate. Even the turbine that we have commissioned and tested is just a dry testing.
“You cannot take electricity out because of the line and the tripping point. That’s where the switch yard is and this was where they attacked and killed some people, took away some of them, the foreign workers, about three,” he said.
Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed said all Nigerians suffer whenever there is an act of sabotage on public facilities.
“What the Minister of Power is saying is that it’s not really about inefficiency or not caring on the part of the government, but that citizens also have a role to play in this,” he said.
Also, the FEC on Wednesday approved N1.4 billion for the supply of more equipment for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to boost power supply in the country.
Aliyu announced this to State House correspondents at the end of the council’s meeting presided over by President Buhari.
“I presented two memos form the Ministry of Power for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). The first one was variation of the sum of a contract for 132/33 KV substation at Kafanchan, Kaduna State, with a KV line base extension at Jos substation in Plateau State. This is in the sum of N132,705,861.42,” he said.
The minister said the second approval he got was for the supply of handling equipment and operational vehicles, also for TCN, at N1.3 billion.
“The second memo was for the supply of handling equipment, haulage and operational vehicles for the TCN at N1,338,159,080.88. They are heavy lifting equipment that the TCN requires for doing its work in the store and on the field while changing equipment and moving transformers and the council graciously approved,” Aliyu said.
