THE Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC is set to conduct a comprehensive audit of all existing National Integrated Power Projects, NIPPS littered across the country.
The audit is aimed to ensure that all idle gas turbines abandoned in the country were restored and put to use so as to improve electricity generation and supply.
This was disclosed by Abdullahi Kassim, Executive Director, Generation, NDPHC, during a tour of three power plants namely Omotosho, Ogorode, and Ihovbor generation companies.
He said the move to audit the plants was spearheaded by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who had ordered the management of NDPHC to revive all gas turbines that were not in good condition.
“We are going to commence an audit of all the power plants. The audit will give us an overview of critical issues.
“Also, the security audit will expose the challenges around security, the mapping of all those security personnel around the power plants and the manpower gap, which was an issue raised by some of the chief operating officers,” he said.
A 2019 investigation carried out by The ICIR, revealed that Omotosho, Benin, Ogorode and Egbema gas plants which were managed by the NDPHC had been shut down due to power rejection to the national grid.
In September 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari had instructed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to prosecute two officers of NDPHC involved in an alleged $16 billion failed gas plant project.
The combined electricity generated from the eight NIPPS across the country was pegged at 468.7MW as of October 2019 but about 300MW gets to the consumers.
However, the Federal Government announced on Sunday the inauguration of the Gagarawa 2x60MVA, 132/33KV substation in Jigawa State after the facility had been abandoned for 20 years.
Sale Mamman, Minister of Power who inaugurated the substation, said the project was designed to upgrade the power supply to the industrial hub of the area in order to promote economic activities and increase revenue generation in Jigawa.
Amos Abba is a journalist with the International Center for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, who believes that courageous investigative reporting is the key to social justice and accountability in the society.