…as Industry stakeholders are asking what has happened to the previous agreement
President Bola Tinubu meets with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on December 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Friday Reinvigorate the gasping Siemens Power project through another signing of agreement after all the Muhammed Buhari administration did.
Nigeria and Germany on Friday signed the Presidential Power Initiative agreement to improve electricity supply in Africa’s most populous nation.
But industry analysts are asking, what happened to all those agreements that were signed both in Germany and Nigeria with the previous government.
The new signing agreement was disclosed yesterday night in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, saying the signing was presided over by President Bola Tinubu and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
The earlier agreements were rendered ineffective by greed, selfishness, corruption, and absolute lack of patriotism by Nigerian officials who decided to corner most of the projects and frustrated Siemens Energy from executing the agreements. They reduced the contracts to mere supply of equipment by Siemens Energy while the other parts of the contracts were hijacked by mindless government officials who are always interested in making a kill in every contract that comes their way.
To evacuate the equipment to be used from the ports was a challenge as Nigerian officials began to struggle among themselves over some aspects of the contracts even when they knew that they didn’t have the capacity to do them. Eventually, Siemens Energy became helpless and watched Nigerians how they were displaying their greed on an otherwise national project.
While the Managing Director of the Federal Government of Nigeria Power Company, Kenny Anuwe, signed on Nigeria’s behalf, the Managing Director (Africa), Siemens AG, Nadja Haakansson, signed for Germany.
“Speaking after the signing ceremony in Dubai, Managing Director of the FGN Power Company, Mr. Kenny Anuwe highlighted Siemens Energy’s effective delivery of crucial equipment worth over 63 million Euros to the country since the project commenced,” the statement read.
“This includes 10 units of 132/33KV mobile substations; 3 units of 75/100MVA transformers, and 7 units of 60/66MVA transformers, currently being installed by FGN Power Company at various sites across Nigeria.
“The project will also focus on identified load demand centres with a particular emphasis on economic and industrial hubs nationwide; execution of new 330kV and 132/33KV substations in target load centres with economic priority, in addition to thousands of kilometres of overhead transmission lines to connect new substations with existing ones.”
The presidential spokesman said since assuming office, Tinubu has consistently advocated the accelerated realization and expansion of the PPI, saying the project has been a major focal point in three rounds of bilateral discussions at several meetings between the President and the German Chancellor, in New Delhi, Abuja, and Berlin.
According to Ngelale, the agreement will see to the end-to-end modernization and expansion of Nigeria’s electric power transmission grid with the full supply, delivery, and installation of Siemens-manufactured equipment a timeline of 18 to 24 months.
He emphasised that agreement will ensure project sustainability and maintenance with full technology transfer and training for Nigerian engineers at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).