Business

Wale Edun Advocates More Liquidity in Power Sector

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, on Monday, said liquidity remained a major solution required by the power sector to perform optimally.

Edun stated this in his submission before the Senate Committee on Power investigating the controversial Make up Gas (MUG) Reprocessing Deal, involving the Ministry of Finance, NDPHC, Calabar Power Generation Company Limited, and ACUGAS Limited.

The minister’s speech was read by his Special Assistant, Mallam Dahiru Moyi.

He said the agreements on gas supply between NPDHC and ACUGAS Limited was inherited by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, since it was signed in 2011 during President Goodluck Jonathan ‘s administration.

He said, “Just as the Ministry of Justice was not aware of the contract agreement, the Ministry of Finance was also not part of it from the beginning, but since government is a continuum, Ministry of Finance later came into it for the purpose of facilitating the required liquidity.

“The issues on ground about contract agreements being investigated by the Senate Committee on Power is not about restructuring, but providing the required liquidity which the Ministry of Finance is doing through collaboration with the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

“Since the NLNG pays for gas in dollars, the ministry is collaborating with it for practical solution of bringing liquidity into the age long contract agreement through Deed of Transfer.

“Make Up Gas (MUG) belongs to Calabar Power Plant; Calabar Power Plant belongs to NDPHC and NDPHC belongs to federal and state governments, with the federal government having 52.68 per cent.”

In his own submission before the committee, Managing Director of NDPHC, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo, informed the Senate Committee on Power that the Calabar Power Generation Company, under its ownership, was the best performing power plant in the country.

Ugbo said the company, as a result of the gas supply agreement with ACUGAS Limited, was taking gas from three out of five units and generating power from Calabarplant to the national grid, which, according to him, was the best power plant in the country.

He said NDPHC went out of its way to construct 80 kilometres gas pipeline for utilisation of MUG in Calabar and Alaoji power plants.

He, however, lamented that problems relating to systemic transition, frequency and voltage issues had not made the firm to achieve the desired results.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South), thanked stakeholders for giving the committee clarity on the issues, adding that it is still an ongoing investigation.

Sunday Aborisade