–Fashola says Nigerians should be patient with the administration
At the commissioning of 1.2MW solar-Powered project located at the Water Board facility in the lower Usuma Dam, -Abuja, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has said the President Muhamadu Buhari’s administration has remained focused in its quest to deliver on promises made to Nigerians.
Fashola said that, the first part of the promise kept is premised on the 2016 Budget which is passed, that is, all un-completed projects, especially those that impact meaningfully on the lives of the people are completed.
“I am glad to say that this water works will wholly be powered by renewable energy, it is going to be devoid of fossils fuel, this will in turn guarantee good health and good livelihood”.
Also, “the project is in line with our administration’s road map to power sufficiency which begins with incremental power, with this we have performed the first step, while others like stable power and then uninterrupted power would follow in that sequence”. With these projects and others underway, Government is keeping faith with its promise to expand energy mix away from the dominance of gas to power through an eco-friendly source he said. Government is determined to drive its economic policies towards growth, expansion of job opportunities as it is for other projects. The project has engaged a number of Nigerian engineers, technicians, and craftsman, so also indirect jobs have been created.
The Minister said that partnership created the opportunity for people who, hitherto do not have jobs to be fully engaged, also N31 million will be reduced in terms of payment for electricity annually.
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Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, (Power), Louis Edozien described the project as a milestone in the evolution of today’s Power sector, which is fast on the road to robust energy mix.
The project which is the first to be tied to the grid, has the capacity to deliver 979KWA electricity, which could to be increased to 1.2MW, and will have peak use at 400KWA per day, while the balance will be taken up by Abuja Distribution Company and paid for accordingly.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Muhammad Musa Bello represented by the Permanent Secretary Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye said that the project is a good example of international collaboration in addressing critical developmental challenges. He stated the willingness of the F.C.T. to promptly pay its counterpart funding for the project is informed by the conviction that this project will impact positively on the lives of FCT residents.
While urging all parties concerned about the project to embrace maintenance culture, so as to continue enjoying the facility, he added that the production of energy through environmentally friendly electric Power estimated to be 1, 459MWTT annually is exciting to the FCT Administration.
The Japanese International Co-operation Agency-JICA representative, Hirotaka Nakamura, in his address said that JICA has consistently intervened in improving infrastructure, of which the Power sector is in the lead for the last two decades in Nigeria.
He urged the Ministry to use this model in the formulation of related policies or guidelines that promotes solar PV technologies in Nigeria, especially high quality Japanese PV models.
Timothy Oyedeji
Director (Press)
