The Senate Committee on Power, yesterday, declared that it might take the next 41 years for the country to experience stable power supply due to underfunding and the Federal Government’s failure to fix the challenges of electricity generation.
It was stunned by the submission of the Minister of Power, Mamman Saleh, that of the N165b required for capital projects in 2020, N4b was given as bribe of which the only N3b was cash-backed.
The Committee, therefore, tackled the minister for raising hope on early provision of constant power supply, while Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, painted a gloomy picture during the ministry’s budget defense.
A member of the Committee, Danjuma Goje, expressed concern that based on Abdulaziz’s presentation, N165b was proposed, but the ministry gave N4b envelope, insisting that it would take 41 years to deliver constant electricity when N165b is divided by N4b.
He said if ongoing projects being completed there is still no hope for stable transmission of power in the country.
“Going by the ministers presentation that transmission gas increased from 5000 to 8000 megawatts, it is not enough. When dishing out figures, we should bear in mind that capacity, transmission, and distribution have increased and that Nigerians, manufacturers, and industrialists want to see stable electricity.
