FG To Spend N457bn On Power Transmission Infrastructure

The Federal Government will spend $2.86bn
(N457.6bn) between now and 2017 in order
to give the nation a power transmission
infrastructure that can carry 16,000
megawatts of electricity.
The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran
Maku, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a
news conference on the performance of the
economy, especially following the
successful sale of the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria’s successor companies.
Maku said a transmission expansion blue
print prepared by the Presidential Action
Committee on Power had committed the
government to a transmission capacity of
16,000MW.
He said the government was committed to
funding the programme, which will cost $
2.86bn, listing the sources of funding as the
African Development Bank, $150m; World
Bank, $290m; and Eurobond of $150m.
Other funding sources are a $500m loan
from the China Export Import Bank;
proceeds from the sale of the National
Integrated Power Plants, $1.6bn; and
budgetary appropriation, $170m.
Announcing that the end of darkness was
near in Nigeria, Maku said different steps
taken by the government would soon begin
to yield results, but pleaded with the
citizens to exercise some patience as time
was still needed to usher in a new era.
He said, “The distribution companies are
going to ensure that there are meters and
the meters will be prepaid so that nobody
will come and charge you for darkness,
which was the case in the past. You buy
your credit and when it finishes, your light
goes off. You don’t need anybody to come
and disconnect you.
“You can be sure now that you will pay for
every light you use. People will ensure that
they put off light that they don’t need. The
importance of this is that the power you
don’t use will go to the industry. When you
waste electricity, it is a national waste, not
just to the person that is paying for it. If
you save it, it goes into production.
“Government will subsidise power for the
poor people. The rural dwellers and poor
urban dwellers; there is a subsidy for you.
In the course of the new tariff, which will
come in the beginning of the market, the
tariff will not take electricity beyond the
capacity of the poor people. It is the bridge
to ensure that everybody has access to
electricity.”
http://www.punchng.com/business/
business-economy/fg-to-spend-n457bn-
on-power-transmission-infrastructure/

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