THE Senate has raised the alarm over the abandonment of Mambila Hydroelectric Power Project (MHEPP) transaction which has been in existence since 1999 to date.

The Senate has consequently mandated its Senator Sani Musa, APC, Niger East led Committee on Finance; Olamilekan Adeola, APC, Ogun West led Committee on Appropriations, that of Power and Water Resources to liaise with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun to integrate Mambila Hydroelectric Power Project (MHEPP) as one of the Legacy Projects in the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

The Senate has emphasized how past administrations had neglected to reallocate the $1.7 billion Ajaokuta Steel Complex and give priority to the national project, which has the potential to produce 3050 megawatts.

The Senate also decided to stick with the original plan to keep the project’s capacity at 3,000 megawatts.
Resolutions of the Upper Chamber yesterday were sequel to a motion titled, “Urgent Need to Address the Challenges of commencing the Mambila Hydroelectric Power Project.”

It was sponsored by Senator Haruna Manu, PDP, Taraba Central and Co-Sponsored byn28 other Senators.

In his presentation, Senator Manu noted that due of the priority placed on power in the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly to electricity generation for capacity expansion, the Mambila Hydroelectric Power project (MHEPP) with its capacity to generate 3050MW and reposition the Ajaokuta Steel Complex with $1.7B makes it a priority project of national importance.

He further expressed worry over the volume of contradictory information about the project which according to him may hinder the actualisation of the good objectives and benefits.

Manu said, “The project has great benefits for local content in the area of human capital development, including the creation of over 55,000 jobs, construction of resettlement homes for over 100,000 people, hauling and supplying of over 2.7 million tons of steel, Production and supply of over 76 million tons of quarry stone, the opportunity for Ashaka and Benue cement tc produce and supply cement, and for Styer Nigeria Limited and DPAN Limited, and Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Limited to manufacture trucks and participate in over 12,000 trips of haulage and transportation logistics from Lagos and Calabar ports to the host community.

“The decades of efforts towards the take-off of this national economic asset have been ongoing including that from North East governors to place the project in implementation mode; the appointment of HYPERTECH Nigeria by the Chinese consortium as the local content consultant; the creation of a presidential inter-ministerial committee comprising four relevant stakeholders (The Federal Ministry of Power, The Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, and The Federal Ministry of Justice) in 2019 by the Buhari-led government to effectively coordinate the implementation of the project.”

According to him, a schedule of pre-commencement activities by the government on resettlement, access road, security, and airfield has been provided and as well as 27 MDAs and over 500 companies which have already been identified towards the actualisation of the 15% local content counterpart funding.

He noted that the project is to be carried out based on Presidential Executive Order 5 which has been issued to provide the platform for the framework of the local content especially as it relates to preference, accreditation, capacity development, and contract award.

“The agreement between a Russian firm and the Republic of Niger to construct the Kandadji hydroelectric project, located about 180 kilometers northwest of the capital Niamey along the Niger River, will reduce the volume of water supply to and hamper the capacity of Kainji dam to generate electricity for Nigeria.”

Supporting the motion, the former President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe North) who called for the project to be added in the budget stressed the importance for immediate action to be taken to determine the status of the project.

He mentioned that the project, if it must ever be executed, must have the special blessing and commitment of President Bola Tinubu himself in order for them to handle all local issues before they can make any serious progress.

He said, “Mr. President, we are begging you, our presidents, our leaders, that the resolutions here must be treated specially. We need power to progress in this country.

“The Chinese are so discouraged and in fact they are not showing any more serious interest, but we have to bring them back because they are our business.”

On his part, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, APC, Edo North, said, “This issue has nothing to do with any part of Nigeria whether North East or North West, it is about Nigeria. The world is unanimous that there are two key drivers in modern society. First, skilling of people through appropriate education, the other is power.

“We have had debates in these chambers which speak to the use of technology. These technologies are power-driven and I think the more we diversify the source of power, the better for Nigeria.
“And so for me, I agree with all of those who have said this should be seen as a national challenge and it’s consistent with the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“President Bola has promised to renew our hope and to reinvigorate and revive those things that have been forgotten.”

On his part, the former governor of Sokoto state, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, PDP, Sokoto South who appealed to President Tinubu to ensure the project is executed for the betterment of the country, said, “When I was Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives to chair the Committee on Power. When the committee ran into trouble while investigating the NIPB projects, i reviewed the Mambila hydro project. Sunrise lacks the capacity, they lack the competence to execute that project.

“The proposed CGGC had the capacity. They were the ones that gave China 22,500 megawatts of electricity, the biggest and largest in the world and these were the people that were being considered for this project.

“I appeal to President Bola Tinubu, if we must have a legacy project, let it be Mambila as number one, because it will have multiple effects, it will have triple effects on the economy, on the infrastructure of Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, former Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives Honourable Babangida Nguroje in a statement on the issue has commended the Senate for raising in defense of the Mambilla hydroelctric power project with the view to ensuring that the project comes to fruition .

The former Deputy speaker also expressed enthusiasm at timely presentation of the motion and the fact that Sunrise company has written to withdraw its legal case that created a legal impediment to the project, stressing that no country can make meaningful development.

Honourable Nguroje mainatined that beyound the project standing as a legacy of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed Hope Agenda , the Mambilla hydro project has capacity to trigger local content beyound Kurmi and Sardauna local government of Taraba state , that it will serve and improve the power crisis in Nigeria .

He expressed joy that the project will create over 55,000 jobs ,construction of resettlement homes for over 100,000 people ,hauling and supplying of over 2.7 million tons of steel, production and supply of over 76million tons of quarry stone and provide opportunity for cement manufacturing companies as well as auto-manufacturers in Nigeria.

He said, “We commend the ingenuity of the 10th Senate as well as the North East Governors bring back the conversation at this time with the favourable disposition of the current administration of President Bola Ahmad Tinubu.” .
He maintained that adding about 3050 megawhats into the subsisting 2000 megawhats will go a long way to improving the power sector and creating more jobs.