Nigeria: Govt Borrows N256 Billion for Power Transmission

The Federal Government has borrowed a sum of N256 billion from foreign institutions for the expansion of power transmission facilities.

Power Minister Professor Chinedu Nebo disclosed this at the State House in Abuja yesterday during the meeting of the Presidential Action Committee on Power (PACP) chaired President Goodluck Jonathan.

Nebo did not disclose when the amount was borrowed, but said it was coming in form of loans from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Euro Bond Issue and the Chinese Exim Bank.

He added that the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) had already designated the funds for the expansion of power transmission facilities.

The minister, who noted that the meeting centred on the expansion of the transmission network in Nigeria with a view to obtaining adequate transmission capacity from all the power generating plants being built, contented that the nation was apparently moving from a public power sector to a private-driven power sector.

He said all the preferred bidders of GENCOS and DISCOS power plant had significantly complied with the conditions set, most of whom he said had "paid up".

According to him, although the nation is celebrating the privatisation of the power sector instead of celebrating constant power supply, there is a substantial joy in many parts of Nigeria as power stability has become enormous.

Nebo said apart from fixing power by eliminating corruption as done in the telecommunication sector, the government envisaged that the reforms in the power sector would "dwarf" the telecommunication sector by re-energising the economy as well as boosting the manufacturing and industrial sub-sectors."

DAILY TRUST