Mambilla power plant project abandoned for over 33 years.
The Mambilla Hydropower Project has been described as a priority project of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to accelerate the overall development of the nation and provide jobs for the people, especially the youth.
The Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Minister of Power, Mr. Aaron Artmas, in a statement in Abuja, said the President is committed to the project, due to its potential multiplier effects on national development, and he has removed bottlenecks that bogged it down for decades.
Artimas noted that Buhari has demonstrated high commitment to the project, going by the mutual agreement by parties to out-of-court settlement on the lawsuit at the International Arbitration Court. “This is no doubt a positive development for the Mambilla project”, he added.
“Through the timely intervention of the President, two committees were constituted, namely, Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee (IMSC) and Project Delivery Committee in January 2020. This has effectively resuscitated the project and provided the platform for the Ministry of Power to pursue timely delivery. Within five months of putting the committees in place, the ministry has carried out the mapping and survey of the project site, and now in the process of acquiring the land, and has also brought together stakeholders on the project. A Memorandum of Understanding has also been signed between the ministry and the Taraba State government.”
On insinuation from certain quarters that the project is not on the 2021 budget proposal, the statement said nothing could be farther from the truth.
“It is not correct to say that Mambilla Power Project is not captured in the 2021 capital expenditure proposal. The project is very dear to the President and the Minister of Power. The expenditure estimates for Mabilla is not only captured in the 2021 budget, in fact, the ministry has written to the ministry of finance to specifically request for increase in the amount allocated for the project. A delegation from the ministry also visited the ministry of finance to make further case for increased budget allocation to the project”.
According to him, the project will not only provide about 40,000 direct and indirect jobs to Nigerians when completed, but it will also be the largest power-generating installation in the country, and one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in Africa.
