President Goodluck Jonathan has directed authorities in the power sector to conclude all necessary arrangements to sign the contract for the construction of Mambila hydro power plant in Taraba State.
Minister of State for Power, Mr. Mohammed Wakil, disclosed this at a rally for Jonathan in Gombe, according to a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday by Special Assistant to the Minister (Media), Olawale Rasheed.
“The president has broken the jinx of the Mambilla hydro dam which is worth about $7bn. The dam is to generate over 3000 Mega Watts and it is about the biggest on the continent. This project has been on the drawing board since 1970. This president has given marching order for the signing of the Mambilla hydro dam by this October.
“The Kashambilla hydro dam has reached about 95 per cent completion. This is in addition to the new transmission lines across the zone.
“We are pushing ahead with the 330kv transmission sub-station to be located in the region. And the Federal Executive Council has just approved another transformer for the state. This is the first time an addition to the transmission capacity of Borno State is being made since 1976,” he stated.
The statement added that despite security challenges in the state, the minister toured the sites of on-going power projects located in Borno State including a sub-station at Baga road in Maiduguri where the newly approved transformer would be located.
The minister also visited the site of the 330KV transmission sub-station located along Damboa road. Work was temporarily suspended at the site due to security challenges.
Wakil said work would resume after the tightening of security at the various power installations across the state.
According to him, the Mambilla power project had been on the drawing board since the 1970s but in 1985 was planned to consist of 2600MW capacity.
It could be recalled that the contract was awarded to Sunrise Power in 2003 but this was later revoked, thereby prompting the company to go to court. The legal process stalled the implementation even though a new contractor was awarded the job.
Following years of litigation, the government has now integrated Sunrise into the project and the project will now consist of three dams – Nya, Samsum and Nghu with interconnecting tunnels and a total generation of 3050MW.
Given the new arrangement, Sunrise Power had to vacate all its suits to enable the project to begin.
The Debt Management Office had in 2007 reported that the Federal Government had secured a credit facility of $1bn from the Exit Import of China to finance the Mambila power project.
