Power Outage: $132m Projects Stalled By Right of Way Issues, Minister Tells NEC

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The National Economic Council (NEC) at its monthly meeting in Abuja, yesterday, was informed that unresolved issues of Right of Way (RoW) stalled some 32 power transmission projects worth $137 million spread across the country.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, who briefed newsmen yesterday evening at the end of the virtual NEC meeting presided over by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, briefed FEC on the power situation in the country especially on the on-grid power generation which also resulted in grid collapses on March 14 and March 15.
Yahaya said: “A key observation came up that need urgent attention is the issues ROW that has hampered billions of Naira of Transmission projects that are meant to strengthen and expand the grid.
“Most of these projects are stalled or delayed because of gaps in implementation of RoW resolutions that state governments are responsible for.
“Currently, there are 32 projects across multiple states stalled or that have been unable to begin post approval.
“The projects account for an investment of 137 million dollars that the Nigerian public is unable to realise value from due to these intractable issues,’’ he said.
The governor said NEC was urged to review the situation with a view to having the issues addressed by the affected states.
He added that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, presented an update to the council on federation accounts.
According to him, as of March 22, the Excess Crude Account stood at 33.8 million dollars; Stabilisation Account, N31.2 billion; Development of Natural Resources Account, N55.5 billion.