Appoint Separate Minister for Power, Senate Urges Buhari

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
The Senate Tuesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a separate Minister of Power to ensure the effective and thorough oversight of the sector for efficient service delivery.

The lawmakers said appointing a minister solely for the power sector is necessary in the face of the seeming challenges that have continued to bedevil the sector.

The current Minister of Power, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, also oversees the Works and Housing sectors.

The Senate’s resolution demanding a separation of the portfolios followed a motion sponsored by Senator Mustapha Bukar (Katsina APC) on the need to establish and delegate Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to execute and operate major development projects in the sector.

Bukar expressed worry at the challenges in managing power projects such as the 3,050 MW Mambilla Hydropower project, 700 MW Zungeru Hydropower project, 215 MW Kaduna Thermal Power project and the 50 MW Katsina Wind Power project.

“The Federal Ministry of Power, as currently constituted, does not have the required professional competence and resources to effectively execute these projects, hence they resort to engaging contractors and consultants for every project development activity,” the senator said.

The lawmaker said the engagement of multitude of consultants brings the risk of lack of ownership and knowledge transfer upon completion and commissioning of the projects, which would hamper proper management of the facilities when in operation.

This is the current situation being experienced at the 215 MW Kaduna Power plant under construction by the Ministry, he alleged.
“Also worried that the implementation of large scale projects is always fraught with the risk of cost and schedule overrun, with attendant consequences on overall contract sum.

“Notes that turnkey Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) projects have FIDIC Conditions of Contract being applicable with strict provisions for liquidated damages, such as fixed contract sum and set delivery period. Unfortunately, these conditions of contract cannot be met under the setting of a ministry.

“Further note that necessary project management controls needed for effective delivery are not enforceable on the Federal Ministry of Power; these are: Cost Control, Schedule Control, Quality Assurance (Q-plan, Q-criteria, etc.), Procurement Control (personnel, inspection and expedition), Design Control (Design compliance and value engineering), Change Order Control (Management of scope variations) and Document Control (Review & timely approval of designs),” Bukar added.

In voice vote presided over by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, the senators also urged the government to immediately incorporate SPVs for the implementation of Hydropower, Solar Power and Wind Power alternative energy projects.

The Senate also urged the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to use gas as the source of Energy for the Kaduna Project in accordance with the original project concept and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with gas suppliers to complete the project as adequate provision has been made for the project in the 2017 Budget.

These resolutions are in addition to a request to the government to employ qualified management team to take charge of the project development in the SPVs and gradually resource the companies in readiness for full operations when the projects are commissioned.

The lawmakers further urged the federal government to transfer all generation, transmission and rural electrification projects to the respective agencies for proper administration.