Power sector woes continue to plague Nigeria economy. To address the issue the liquidity has been profer as the most appropriate solution to get the sector on the efficient path.
According to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy , Wale Edun, providing liquidity for the sector will enable it meet gas supply agreement.
Speaking during a committee investigation into the controversial Make-up Gas (MUG) Reprocessing Deal at the Senate, Edun noted that since NLNG pays for gas in dollars, the Ministry is collaborating with it to bring liquidity into the longstanding contract agreement through a Deed of Transfer.
“It is not about restructuring but providing the required liquidity, which the Ministry of Finance is doing through collaboration with the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).”
“Just as the Ministry of Justice was not aware of the contract agreement, the Ministry of Finance was also not part of it from the beginning. But since government is a continuum, the Ministry of Finance later became involved to facilitate the required liquidity.”
The deal which involves the Ministry of Finance, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Calabar Generation Company Limited, and ACUGAS Limited, were inherited by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, having been signed in 2011 during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Speaking before the committee as well was Chiedu Ugbo, Managing Director of NDPHC, who explained that the business is using gas from three of the five units to generate power through the Calabar plant for the National Grid because of the gas supply arrangement with ACUGAS Limited. This plant is the best in the nation, he said.
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According to Ugbo, NDPHC built an 80-kilometer gas pipeline so that MUG could be used in the power plants in Calabar and Alaoji. But he bemoaned the fact that the company hasn’t been able to achieve the intended outcomes because of systemic problems with transition, frequency, and voltage.
The Committee Chairman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, acknowledged that the probe is still ongoing but commended the stakeholders for offering clarification on the matter.
