Buhari dwarfs all former Presidents in power projects: BMO

No previous administration has delivered more physical projects in the power sector than the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Making this observation, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said this is against the background of revelations that the administration completed a total of 105 power transformer projects between 2015 and 2022.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the group said that the completed transformers/substations have added a capacity of 6,216MVA to the national grid.

“If there is one area that President Buhari’s legacy would be felt in infrastructure renewal, we believe that it will be in the power sector where a lot of silent reforms are ongoing under the Federal government’s Vision 30:30:30 initiative of achieving 30GW of electricity by 2030.

“It is against this backdrop that Nigerians should look at the 105 power transformer projects that were completed in seven years without fanfare, considering the quantum of funds spent in the preceding 16 years across three administrations on the power sector, with little or nothing to show for it in terms of improvement.

“A look at the list of projects showed a nationwide spread across the six geo-political zones and they involved a total of 900km of reconductoring and construction of new transmission lines between 2015 and 2022.

“Some of the completed Power Transformer/Substation projects include the 150MVA 330/132kV Interbus Power Transformer at Ughelli, Delta IV Transmission Substation and the 2x60MVA 132/33kV Dawaki/Gwarinpa Substation which was recently completed in November 2022 under the Abuja Feeding Scheme,” the group added.

BMO also said that the administration has been working on ensuring that renewable energy is added to the national grid.

“Although the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) was conceived by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2004, a number of the hydro electric projects initiated at the time are just being completed by the Buhari administration.

“So, in line with the government’s plan to ensure that renewable energy contributes 30% to its energy mix policy, the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project is at 97 per cent completion and it is expected to provide 700MW to the national grid while the completed Kashimbila Hydroelectricity Project will be providing 40 MW to the grid.

“And there is also the 3050 MW Mambila project which the Buhari administration is reviving after the mess created by PDP governments in a transaction that is costing the country millions of dollars in litigation costs and judicial penalties.

“In addition, are the off-grid solar power initiatives by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) in federal universities/teaching hospitals and economic clusters/markets under the Energizing Education Programme (EEP) and Energizing Economies Initiative (EEI) respectively.

“Finally, there is the government-to-government, 25,000MW Presidential power initiative with Germany which one Presidential candidate had recently dismissed as stalled, but which SIEMENS executives emphasized during a visit to Nigeria as ongoing and would take the country’s operational capacity from less than 5,000 MW to 7,000 in 2023 in the first phase”.

The group said that the ongoing power sector reform is yet another proof that President Buhari would leave the country better than he met it in 2015.