- Power Ministry to Spend N324.1m on Generators in 2017
The Nigerian Ministry of Power, Works and Housing will spend about N324.1 million on the purchase, maintenance and fueling of plants and generators at both its headquarters and agencies in the 2017 fiscal year.
The 2017 Appropriation Bill, which is presently before the National Assembly, shows the headquarters and agencies of the three-in-one ministry are to spend N35.65 million on the maintenance of plants and generators, while about N57.2 million was budgeted for fueling and a total of N231.2 million allocated for the purchase of generating sets.
Documents have shown that many federal ministries budget millions for the purchase of generators and maintenance in 2017 despite promises by the Federal Government to ensure better power generation across the country.
According to a Punch report, an industry data obtained on Tuesday in Abuja showed that the total power generation in the country, which peaked at 4,208.3 megawatts on December 31, 2016, has dropped by 847.8MW to 3,360.5MW on January 2, 2017.
The report also revealed that the country has been generating around 3,000MW for about 10 weeks, before it finally crossed the 4,100MW mark on December 26, 2016. This could be temporary as it is not clear it could be sustained going forward.
On the budget for generators by Power ministry, the headquarters would spend a total of N217.1 million on the purchase, maintenance, and fueling. While N50 million will be spent by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on the purchase of generators.
The remaining N57 million is allocated to 10 other agencies under the ministry for generator fueling and maintenance.
Transmission Company of Nigeria, Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading and the Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Survey are the three agencies under the ministry without allocation for generator purchase, maintenance and fueling in 2017.
