Tunde Sanni
30 October 2008
Ibadan — Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo state yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Independent Power Project (IPP) with a South African based Entec Power and Utilities Limited with a vow to ensure the breaking of the monopoly of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria {PHCN}.
The project which is estimated at about $435 million, according to the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the power company, Mr. Akeem Agbaje, is aimed at boosting the economy of the state. He said attention would be focused more on the local industrial users who are concentrated in Oluyole, Lagos-Ibadan expressway and commercial service centres in the old and new Gbagi markets as well as Agodi Government Secretariat.
Agbaje hinted that his company would dialogue with both Federal Government and the PHCN authorities to ensure that the independent power supply would not be sabotaged.
While speaking at the signing of the MoU, the Governor stated that the project will be 100 percent financed by the company while the state will only provide an enabling environment for it .
He promised that the state would fulfil its own part of the MoU , saying it would not relent in its efforts to make the project a success.
He pointed out that the state is a big market in terms of electricity consumption, revealing that his administration looked forward to a time when the state would celebrate one year and even fifty years of regular and uninterrupted power supply.
Agbaje who spoke with newsmen after the ceremony in company of other technical experts explained further that the first phase of the project would generate 25 megawatts estimated at $35million while the bigger project which would gulp an estimated $400million.The team assured that the 25 megawatts would be completed between 8-12 months while the bigger project would be completed between 18-24 months, allaying fears that the project would not be like that of Lagos as both companies were operating in different environments.
They pointed out that similar projects had been successfully executed at Abia and Akwa-Ibom.Earlier, Dr. Kola Balogun, Commissioner for Commerce and Co-operative, vowed that there would be no compromise on the resolve of the present government to put smiles on faces of the residents in the state.
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