The Federal Executive Council, on Wednesday, in Abuja, approved N39.6bn for various contracts for transmission lines in the ministry of power.
Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, who briefed State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the N39.6bn contract sum comprises offshore and onshore components of $53m and N15.6bn respectively.
Aliyu said, “I presented three memos to the council today and I got approval for the three memos.
“The first memo sought the council’s approval for the procurement of transmission line materials for re-construction works for the Transmission Company of Nigeria in favour of Messrs Legacy Power in the sum of $6m; that’s the offshore value.
“The component for the onshore is N145m inclusive of all the taxes and 12 months of completion.”
He said the second memo sought the council’s approval for the award of contract for the construction of a 15km turn in-turn out line of the existing Akure-Ado-Ekiti 132KV single-circuit transmission line at Akure 330KV, 132KV, 33KV sub-stations.
The contract, he explained, is in favour of Messrs Legacy Power Limited in the sum of $2.5m as the offshore component and N988.5m as the onshore component.
According to Aliyu, the Akure sub-station which was completed since 2021, is a 330KV sub-station that the FG could not energise due to “a lack of line”.
“The line is supposed to come from Benin which is a new line under construction. The line is coming from Benin North to Oshogbo which will pass and energise the Akure sub-station.
“So, this project is 132KV line from the Akure sub-station going to Akure-Ado-Ekiti which is simultaneously going on with the Benin North-Akure line.
“By the time we are able to energise the Akure line, this project would have been completed so that the whole area will have no problem with electricity. This project will be completed in 12 months and was also approved by the council,” he explained.
In the third memo the Council considered from the power ministry, Aliyu said it featured five projects which are to design, supply and install 132KV sub-station and transmission lines across different locations in the country for the TCN.
He explained further, “The contract is in favour of several contractors in the total $53m; this is offshore; then the onshore is N15.6bn.
“The projects are all similar—design, supply and install 2 by 60MVA 132 33kV transmission sub-station across the country as I stated earlier.
“We have one in Misau Local Government Area, Bauchi State. We have another one in Mashi Local Government in Kastina State. We have the third one in Benue State, which is Api and North Bank in Makurdi; then we have the fourth one which is at Ebonyi State, one 60MVA transformer at a university in Ebonyi State; then, we have the other one at Ebonyi Airport; then, the fifth one is a line of 30km at Rimin Zakara to Kayin in Kano.”
Also briefing, the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, said the ministry presented a memo to the Council on the African Union Convention on Cross Border Cooperation, better known as the Niamey Convention.
He explained that the Convention was initiated by the Nigerian Government during the conference of African ministers in charge of borders on May 29, 2012 in Niamey, Niger Republic, and adopted in Malabo Equatorial Guinea in 2014.
“Nigeria initiated and spearheaded the drafting of the Convention. Subsequently, Nigeria signed the Convention on January 29, 2017.
“What we simply did today was to present the Convention to the Council for its approval and ratification by the president. The Convention aims to simply promote cross border cooperation at local, sub-regional and regional levels.
“This simply talks to our government’s foreign policy, which emphasizes on good neighbourliness; in other words, making good efforts to ensure that we live in peace with our immediate neighbours,” Dada explained.
According to him, the agreement has created a mechanism for the promotion of economic integration of the continent, cross-border cooperation that will help facilitate trade and promote the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
“All we are doing now is to seek its ratification. Some other African countries have already signed on to it and have also ratified it.
“All we are doing is to give leadership to Africa by ensuring that we also ratify it so that it will come into effect,” he said.
