The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has justified why the Mambilla Power project did not get any allocation in the ministry’s 2024 budget proposal.
Speaking during a session with a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Power chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Adelabu said legal disputes had continued to rock the Mambilla project.
As such, he said he did not allocate any amount for the project. Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited had on October 10, 2017 dragged the Federal Government to the International Court of Arbitration administered by the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, France for alleged breach of contract in relation to a 2003 agreement to construct the 3,050MW plant in Mambilla, Taraba State, on a Build, Operate and Transfer basis for $6bn.
The Federal Government, in its defence, insisted the contract award was irregular and did not pass through due process.
Adelabu told the senators and members of the House of Representatives that he deliberately removed the Mambilla project from the ministry’s 2024 budget proposal.
He said, “For Mambilla, there is no provision for it in 2024. It isn’t a mistake. It is deliberate. It is under international arbitration. Until it is resolved, we can’t do anything about it.”
Speaking on the Zungeru hydropower project, the minister said it was almost completed.
“The hydropower plant is 99.8 per cent ready. It is almost completed and we intend to start operation this year and commence evacuation to the national grid. Immediately concessionary fees are paid, we will start full operation. So, we don’t have problem with Zungeru.”
