By; MUSA ILALLAH
While Nigerian Muslims were busy with the Rsmadan fast and making last minute arrangements to celebrate this year’s Eid el Fitr with pomp and pageantry in the midst of scorching hard times brought about by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s withdrawal of fuel and energy siubsidies, Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu was quoted by the ministry’s spokesman as saying, “that there was no progress on the Siemens project since the death of the late Abba Kyari. The lie is in the claim that the death of Abba Kyari stalled the implementation of the Siemens project”.
For the records, Abba Kyari died on April 17, 2020 and work on the Siemens project continued up to May 2023.
He further shamelessly, added that the pilot or first phase of the project “only progressed significantly when the Tinubu administration emerged.”
The Minister also claimed that the ”10 mobile substations and the mega transformers only arrived in Nigeria now.”
Indeed all well meaning Nigerians and those keenly watching developments in the power sector, know that the statement by the minister which was widely published in the media, is full of lies, distortions and outright disregard for glaring facts and figures at the disposal of the public.
This deliberate mixing and juggling of of facts with fiction for selfish reasons by Minister Adelabu is nothing short of a deliberate attempt to reap where his ministry did not sow.
The minister also claims that the Siemens project only continued after the visit of the German Chancellor to Nigeria in November 2023.
To say the least, the part of the minister’s briefing about Siemens project is far from the truth and full of misleading narrations.
At this critical time in the history of Nigeria’s power sector, what is expected from the minister, is to highlight the project’s progress since 29th May last year towards improvement of the entire value chain of the power sector.
Instead of being innovative enough focusing on making things happen in the power sector by building on the solid foundation laid by the previous administration, regrettably, the minister chose to indulge in desperate revisionism to score cheap political points and take credit for what was already done by the ex President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The simple undeniable truth is that Siemens project was never stalled after the death of the late COS, Abba Kyari. The project moved on and made significant progress through timely funding and implementation of Nigeria’s component of the agreement. Even though COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine affected the project’s timelines, but former President Muhammadu Buhari kept the project going.
One can vividly recall that in March 2022, then Minister of Power, Engineer Abubakar D. Aliyu, led a government delegation to Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany, where a meeting with the leadership of Siemens Energy fast-tracked the deliveries of the first phase of the project.
While delivering President Muhammadu Buhari’ administration’s scorecard in January 2023, former Minister of Power’s presentation included videos and images of the mega transformers and mobile power sub-stations delivered to Nigeria.
Progress report showed that as at January 2023, six of the 10 Mega Power Transformers had already arrived on the shores of Nigeria and installation of the ones delivered was ongoing in various locations. However, the remaining four were onshore.
Indeed, as at that time, the first mega transformer was being installed in Ajah Lagos, while the second one being installed at Apo Abuja, was energized on May 15, 2023.
As official records released have shown that by 1st May 2023, the FGN Power Company had received delivery of 80 per cent of the equipment for the pilot projects, which were deployed to critical sites across the lengths and breadth of the country to improve power transmission capacity.
The progress recorded on the Siemens project could not have been possible without the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari and the former minister of power’s dedication to making sure that the project was successful.
The then Minister of Power, Aliyu secured the approval of the Federal Executive Council of €63m for the procurements under the Presidential Power Initiative, PPI.
One of the last official engagements of the PMB administration in the power sector was testing and commissioning of the 700 megawatts Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Station which is the biggest power project delivered in recent times. Details of the testing of the project were widely in the news on May 15, 2023.
Since government is a continuous process, Nigerians expect nothing less than an improved power supply for the country by the Tinubu administration.
The recent withdrawal of subsidy in the energy sector and consequent increase of electricity tariff by as much as 300% should worry the Tinubu administration and take a closer look at their consequences on the economy and Nigerians.
MUSA ILALLAH writes from Emeka Anyaoku Street, Abuja. He can be reached via; musahk123@yahoo.com
