The Federal Government has so far secured a total of $6.15bn (about N2.37tn) funding for the power sector and is currently reforming the industry with the fund, the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, has said.
Mamman, who marked one year in office on August 21, 2020, said the fund was being used to improve the electricity supply experience of Nigerians.
The power minister, along with 42 other ministers, was inaugurated by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on August 21 2019.
The Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Aaron Artimas, said the minister was grateful to the president and pledged to deliver on the mandates of government in the power sector.
The Federal Government had through the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 unbundled the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria in 2013.
It created 18 power utilities from the defunct PHCN that were privatised, except the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
The utilities consist of six generation companies and 11 distribution companies and the aim was to ensure that the firms played their part to help improve power supply across the country.
Although this aim had yet to be achieved, the power minister insisted that the creation of a blueprint for a holistic reform of the sector, targeting five focal areas, would help address the challenges in the industy.
He was quoted in the statement as saying, “I am glad to state that to date, $6.15bn have been secured for infrastructural development. The total sum has been earmarked for critical projects”
Providing a breakdown of projects being handled by the fund, the statement said that $2.3bn was for the Siemens deal, while $1.6bn was for the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme.
It said $1.7bn was for electricity distribution, $550m for the Nigerian Electricity Project, which is a rural electrification project being funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
Mamman stated that with the fund, the ministry had begun implementing critical infrastructure to ensure the generation, transmission and distribution of 25,000 megawatts of electricity by 2025.
Nigeria currently generates about 5,000MW of electricity, which often fluctuates and hovers around 4,000MW.
But Mamman said the Siemens project would raise power to 7,000MW in the first phase, which had just commenced.
The expected projects under the Siemens deal include 105 substations rehabilitation, building 70 new substations, manufacturing and installing 35 power transformers and installation of 3,765 distribution transformers.
“There will also be over 5,000 kilometres of transmission lines to be constructed,” the minister stated.

By Okechukwu Nnodim