Tag: Ministry of power works and housing

PHOTOS: Fashola Inspects Ongoing Housing Projects In Abuja

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, observes ongoing construction works of Federal Housing schemes in Abuja. PHOTO: Sodiq Adelakun/Channels TV

 

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday inspected the progress of work and quality of materials used for the construction of  Federal Government housing projects in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The Minister, in company with some government officials, toured the Federal Mortgage Bank Real Estate Development Funding Project, the Ministry of Power Works and Housing Site for the National Housing Project, and the Housing Project by the Federal Housing Authority.

READ ALSO: PHOTOS: FG Spends Over Five Billion Naira On Aviation Fire Training Facility

Fashola who was billed to inspect the National Housing Program Project was unable to visit the site due to the ‘Stop Work’ order on the building.

He ordered that the construction be stopped and the buildings vacated, pending when he sees documents proving that the issues have been resolved.

See photos below:

Nigeria Needs To Invest More In Electricity To Grow Economy, Energy Experts Say

electricity supply in nigeriaEnergy experts are calling on government to invest heavily in the energy sector in other to grow the nation’s economy that is in recession.

The call was made at a conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital, held  to mark the 2016 World Energy Day. Talks at the conference were focused on the theme, “Sustainable and Affordable Energy and the Challenges for Nigeria”.

The experts attributed the poor economic development in most African countries, including Nigeria, to the lack of efficient electricity supply.

National Energy Policies Implementation

Apart from asking the government to invest in the sector, they also want full implementation of existing national energy policies.

They believe that the policies would make access to energy sustainable and affordable.

energy-expers-in-nigeria
Energy experts believe small businesses will spring up to boost the economy if electricity supply improves

The President of the International Association for Energy Economics, Mr Wumi Iledare, told the gathering that ‘a nation connected to light is a nation that is economically buoyant’.

“A lot of people could have easily become a barber, if they could just have light to open a barber or hair dressing shop.

“In the United States, small businesses dominate the economy,” Mr Iledare pointed out.

Access to affordable energy, including fuel and electricity, remains a major priority to many Nigerians.


It also informs the reasons successive governments have invested huge sums of money to develop the sector in recent past.

The 2016 appropriation bill earmarked over 400 billion Naira to the Ministry of Power Works and Housing, an allocation many say is an improvement over the past.

In spite of such investments in the past, access to efficient electricity supply in Nigeria still remains work in progress.

A representative from the Energy Commission of Nigeria who is the Director  of Nuclear Science and Technology, Malah Umar, argued that there was enough policies to make energy accessible in Nigeria.

He, however, decried the lack of political will to implement those policies.

Meanwhile, the Acting General Manager, Resource and Development at the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Yusuf Abdussalam,
explained some issues surrounding electricity affordability.

“The cost of electricity in Abuja could have been may be 31 to 32 Naira per kilowatt, but affordability has been built into the tariff system to see that those consuming less electricity can pay as low as 23 Naira per kilowatt while those that consume more will pay more,” Mr Abdussalam stated.

Nigeria’s electricity generation has continued to revolve around 3,000 and 5,000 megawatts even though experts say the country needs a minimum of 20, 000 megawatts of electricity to drive the economy.

Power Ministry Lists Electricity Shortage, Others After Niger Delta Pipeline Attack

Babatunde-FasholaThe attack on the Nigeria Gas Company’s pipeline connected to Chevron Nigeria Limited’s facility at Escravos in Delta State will impact negatively on the Olorunsogo NIPP plant, with 600MW capacity and other Power Plants, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has said.

In a statement by the spokesman for the Minister, Hakeem Bello, the Ministry said that “the sabotaged gas pipeline, which contributes to the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) has led to a loss of 160 million standard cubic feet per day of gas”.

Breakdown Of Effect

Giving a breakdown of the effect of the attack, the Ministry said: “At a cost of $2.50 per thousand scf, this loss means about $400,000 loss to the country on a daily basis (N78,800,000 daily) in gas volume.

“This is in addition to losses to be incurred daily from affected Power generation ($1,988,223 or N391,680,000 daily). The total daily loss to the country is therefore estimated at N470,479,931.

“Repairs of the damaged pipeline is estimated as costing ($609,137 or N120,000.000)”.

The Ministry further stated that the real sector of the economy had also been counting its losses, as some cement companies around Olorunsogo like Ewekoro and Ibese were also affected.

“The latest incident has occurred just as the Federal Government through the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources along with allied agencies has been making concerted efforts to improve gas supplies to the Power Plants.

“Such efforts led to previously offline plants like Ihovbor and Sapele coming back online and the subsequent output making up for the loss in power. The pipelines are being actively monitored for further attacks or other unforeseen impacts,” the statement further read.

According to the Ministry, available records show that six incidences of vandalism from December 2014 to February 2015, which affected the Trans Forcados Pipeline at Oben, Sapele, Oredo and Escravos Lagos Pipeline System (CNL), led to a loss of 1,100 Million standard cubic feet per day of gas.

According to industry experts, a loss of 200 Million standard cubic feet per day of gas is equivalent to a Power reduction of 700MW.

The industry is currently generating about 4120Mwh/h on average, as at January 17, a performance the Ministry claimed would have been better without the additional setback caused by weekend’s incident.

At a meeting last week between the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola and the operators in the Power Sector – the Nigeria Gas Company , the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the GACN – led by the Minister of State of Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu shared information on significant gas projects that would improve gas supply.

Dr Kachukwu had pointed out that the projects were scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2016 and also highlighted some of the challenges especially related to security affecting delivery of gas to the power sector.

In response to this, the NNPC is forming a committee NNPC, Police, JTF – Army, Air Force and Navy – and also community vigilante groups, who have been tasked with the responsibility of securing these pipelines.