Senate approves N95.26bn for FGN Power Company, ex-TCN boss expects project to fail

The Senate has approved N95.26 billion for the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Power Company after Committee on Power submitted a report on the budget.

In a statement released by the Senate on Wednesday, it was revealed that the chairman of the Committee on Power, Senator Gabriel Suswam, advised that the N95,261,665,187 budget be approved.

“Senator Gabriel Suswam moved that the Senate do receive and consider the report of the Committee on Power on the Transmission of the FGN Power Company Budget for 2022.

“Senate approved the sum of N95,261,665,187 Billion as the FGN Power Company Budget for 2022,” the statement reads.

The FGN Power Company coordinates the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), in partnership with the German electricity firm, Siemens.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the project had previously received approval of $1.9 million and €62.9 million for phase one of the PPI from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in December 2021, in its bid to boost electricity supply to 40 million people in Nigeria.

READ ALSO:Senate reveals why 2023 budget passage was postponed

Former TCN boss expects FG/Siemens’ project to fail

Senate’s approval comes the same day the former Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Usman Mohammed, said the presidential power initiative won’t achieve its 7,000MW target, “How will upgrading in Talata Mafara, upgrading in Katampe and four other substations, take you to 7,000 megawatts? It is not possible. Instead of us to focus on the one we have worked on.”

In an interview with Channels TV, Mohammed said the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP) of TCN, which is expected to gulp $200 million, is a better initiative compared to the PPI.

“As at today, the content of that presidential power initiative (PPI) is intervention in upgrading seven substations. That is phase one. Then, they are supplying some mobile transformers. That is what it is.

“What is 10 mobile transformers and 10 spare transformers? All these things they are talking about is not up to 2 percent of what they are doing under the national transmission rehabilitation and expansion programme and yet, the moment the government put this issue of doing the presidential power initiative (PPI), they distracted TCN from focusing on what they are supposed to do,” Mohammed said.

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