$33 m power plant saga: Reps summon Ministers of Finance, Power, BPP others

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3 years ago

The House of Representatives on Tuesday summoned the Ministers of Power, Finance and heads of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) over the 33 million dollars Azura power plant purchase agreement.

The agencies affected are; Nigeria Bulk Electricity Transmission (NBET), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon James Faleke issued the summon at the resumed hearing of the committee currently investigating the alleged breach of agreement and perennial power failure in the country.

Faleke, while announcing the decision of the committee disclosed that the agencies would have to explain their roles in the power deal, adding that the appropriate date would be communicated to the affected agencies.

The committee had on Aug. 19 discovered that the country was committed to a monthly payment of $ 33 million in a take or pay deal.

The committee however discovered that the Azura power plant had not been able to deliver the 450 megawatts of electricity agreed to with TCN to the national grid since the contract was signed.

Hon Faleke, however, directed the Managing Director, TCN, Mr Sule Abdulazeez to present its budget allocation from 2002 and the contract awarded and the certificates by TCN on the power transmission line

He said that if Azura would demand money in dollars from power being generated, Nigeria should also demand money from Azura in dollars for power being used from the national grid.

The committee also directed TCN to provide it with its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from 2010 including its audit report, while also picking holes in the IGR being spent by TCN outside budgetary provision.

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