The Kudenda Power Project in Kaduna is expected to be finished by the first quarter of next year, according to Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, who also announced the addition of 215 megawatts of new electricity to the national system.
According to him, the Kaduna power plant project at Kudenda was awarded in 2010, which is thirteen years ago, but legal problems caused the project to be put on hold.
Following an inspection trip of the Kudenda project, the Minister addressed with media on Tuesday at the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KedCo).
Adelabu remarked that “in 2018, the project was almost 87% completed,” reiterating the government’s commitment to seeing the project through to completion. However, a number of legal problems involving the contractors forced the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step in, and as a result, the project was put on hold.
“over five years now, until we came in, this administration resolved these issues and the contractors are back on site.
“That is why I visited the place to discuss the plans for completion with the contractor and also to discuss with the consultants and the intervention required from the ministry to accelerate the completion of the project before the first quarter of next year, that project is going to be completed and an additional 215 megawatts of power would be added to the national grid,” he assured.
Adelabu said “One of the issues we discussed is vandalisation and power theft.
“Vandalisation is the deliberate destruction of power assets, especially transmitting power assets, high voltage cables and transformers, which we believe have affected the stability of electricity in the country, especially in the North.
“We are collaborating with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Ministry of Interior and all security agencies across the country to ensure that this is stopped.
“I also call on all state governors, especially in the North, to raise to the occasion of threat to security to power assets for us to be able to deliver stable electricity to our people as part of our electoral promises.
“The people must also be generally vigilant. We have local hunters and vigilantes, and all of us must contribute to the security of transmission power assets and distribution infrastructure. That is the only way we can guarantee a stable supply of electricity to our people,” he stated.
