Government Assures Nigerians Of Stable Power Supply

THE federal government yesterday said it is renewing and repositioning the power sector, and that with ongoing effort at privatisation, there would be greater efficiency in power generation, transmission and distribution in the country .

Minster of Information, Labaran Maku, stated this when a delegation of the National Good Governance Tour visited the power sub-station at Makar, in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Maku said that the federal government sees power as key to economic development and is working relentlessly to stabilise the same in order to achieve economic recovery and ensure the comfort of citizens.

He observed that the federal government has made commitments at ensuring that from 2012, power would increase in geometric progression.

The minster noted that the federal government is building power stations all over the country, adding that most of the improvements that have been recorded are due to the restoration of power infrastructure that were crippled over years.

According to Maku, the Federal Ministry of Information has conducted a survey in the 36 states of the federation and the report shows that power has stabilised.

“We are not saying that the situation is the same all over the country. But in most parts, there is greater stability of power. We are waiting for connection of the gas plant that has been built. And once that happens, there will be remarkable improvement in supply all over the country. The super grid is also being constructed.”

Earlier, the Principal Manager of PHCN in the state, Mr. Thomas Duniya, said that the construction of a 120-megawatt power sub-station in Makeri has been completed.

He said the project was executed in partnership with the Plateau State Government, which spent N47m to compensate landowners before the project took off.

Duniya stated that as soon as the sub-station is energised, there would be stability of electricity in the Jos South District, in addition to 50 communities that would directly benefit from the project.

Principal Manager said PHCN is waiting for the state government to hook up the communities so that the sub-station would be energised.

He noted that initially, the entire district was supplied with electricity through a 33 KV line, but with completion of the sub-station, power would be supplied through a 132 KV line with six feeders.

He added that Panchim would be energised to also supply southern parts of the state, and other towns in the same would be fed on 13233KV, which would take more than six feeders. The sub-station has the capacity to generate 120MWts of electricity.

A representative of the North China Power Engineering said that the project, which commenced three years ago, would be handed over to the state government.