Some Countries We’re Supplying Electricity Don’t Pay – Shettima

 

Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima has revealed that some countries being supplied light by Nigeria are not paying.

 

He made the statement on Thursday during the Agbara Business Roundtable held in Agbara, Ado-Odo-Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.

 

According to him, there was the need to ensure investors in the country were provided adequate power supply to sustain their operations.

 

He stated that the power needs of industry would be met even as he observed that some other nations Nigeria is supplying electricity to don’t pay.

 

Daily Trust reports that Nigeria supplies electricity to some of its neighbours like Niger, Benin Republic, Togo, among others.

 

The roundtable was convened by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) under its Light Up Nigeria Programme to supply dedicated, steady, and quality power to major industrial and commercial clusters in Nigeria.

 

Shettima said that it is embarrassing that the Agbara Cluster relies on other sources of power supply aside from the national grid, adding that the federal government through the NDPHC is committed to ensuring that clusters like Agbara benefit from a cheaper means of generating power in their various factories.

 

The vice president, who is the chairman of Board of Directors of NDPHC promised that the Agbara Industrial Estate will have a steady power supply in the next four months.

 

He said: “Be rest assured, we are going to supply your power needs and with no strings attached. We are giving power to Togo, I think we are giving 100 megawatts to Togo, and some of these nations are not even paying us. Why can’t we give to businesses that will pay us? It is just simple arithmetic; it is a matter of economics.”

 

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NDPHC, Chiedu Ugbo disclosed that it has successfully constructed eight power plants with a combined capacity of approximately 4000 MW, as well as various transmission and distribution infrastructure.

 

Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu said the project stands as the first of many projects in the federal government’s light-up initiative to deliver reliable electricity to industrial and heavy user clusters across the country.

 

Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun said that without electricity, all infrastructure provided for the use of the people of the state and the country as a whole would be in vain.

 

Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwoolu represented by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat regretted that out of about 13,000 megawatts available, the country could only transmit 4,000 megawatts.