The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said the Kudendan power plant in Kudenda, Kaduna State, would be completed before the first quarter of next year.
The minister also said his ministry was collaborating with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Ministry of Interior and other security agencies to safeguard power installations.
Adelabu spoke in an interview with journalists on Tuesday when he visited the headquarters of the Kaduna Electric Distribution Company (KAEDCO) shortly after he inspected the Kudendan power project.
He noted that the contract for the power plant was awarded in 2010, but was stalled following some legal issues that led to the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He, however, disclosed that the present administration has resolved the issues, and assured the people that the project would be completed before the first quarter of 2025.
“The Kaduna power plant project was awarded in 2010 – that is 13 years ago. As of 2018, the project was almost 87 per cent completed.
“But there were a number of legal issues that involved the contractors that made the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intervene and there was a stoppage in the project.
“Over five years now, until we came in, this administration resolved these issues and the contractors are back on site.
“That is why I visited the place to discuss the plans for completion with the contractor and also to discuss with the consultants and the intervention required from the ministry (of power) to accelerate the completion of the project.
“Before the first quarter of next year, the project is going to be completed and an additional 215 mega-watts of power would be added to the national grid,” he said.
While lamenting the vandalism of power installations and power theft, the minister said his ministry was collaborating with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Ministry of Interior and all security agencies to stop it.
He said, “One of the issues we discussed is vandalisation and power theft. Vandalisation is the deliberate destruction of power assets, especially transmitting power assets, high voltage cables and transformers, which we believe have affected the stability of electricity in the country, especially in the north.
“We are collaborating with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Ministry of Interior and all security agencies across the country to ensure that this is stopped.”
He, therefore, called on governors, especially those in the north, to rise up to the occasion to tackle the security threat to power assets so as to deliver stable electricity to the people “as part of our electoral promises.”
Adelabu also called on Nigerians to be vigilant and protect power installations.
“We have local hunters and vigilantes, all of us must contribute to the security of transmission power assets and distribution infrastructure. That is the only way we can guarantee a stable supply of electricity to our people,” the minister said.
Earlier, while addressing the management of KAEDCO, he urged distribution companies to be open and transparent in their operations, saying the sector was being run like a cult in the past.
“Nobody knew what was happening. It was only guess work. Nobody knew what was happening in generation and amount of power generated, the transmission infrastructure, even the DISCOS operation, everything was kept under wraps. But we said no, we cannot move like that,” he said.
John Shiklam
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