BY Mary Ugbodaga
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it will partner with stakeholders to establish a gas-fired power plant in Maiduguri, Borno state, to address the issue of power supply.
Mele Kyari, group managing director of NNPC, said this during a courtesy call on Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, on Friday.
This follows the destruction of electricity tower that supplies the state by Boko Haram members, throwing Maiduguri and other areas in Borno into total blackout.
The Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) restored power to the state after two months of outage.
“Our essence of coming to Maiduguri is to join you to resolve the power problem in Borno, particularly Maiduguri metropolis and its environs in the next four months,” Kyari said.
“We have seen the opportunities and the challenges faced by the people in this part of the country, and it is pertinent to support your people have light restored back to this city.
“We think it’s very possible to establish a dedicated plant in Maiduguri which will serve the current needs and potentially supply power to other neighbouring cities and even countries.
“We are seeing a very short time frame, between three to four months we should be able to put up a power plant that will serve Borno.”
In his remarks, Zulum lauded NNPC for its intervention to restore power to the people of Borno.
“Today’s event will change the narrative in our state as power is very essential in reducing the magnitude of poverty caused by insurgency in the state,” the governor said.
“The ongoing insurgency has cut off the entire Borno from the national grid in the last two or three months.
“We put on all our efforts and restored it back, we have seen the joy and jubilation the people of Borno demonstrated after the restoration. But unfortunately, after 48 hours, the same group of insurgents went back and destroyed the main tower again.
“We have no other alternative than to source for other solutions, instead of relying on the gridlines, as it is very difficult to man the poles.
“That informed our decision to contact NNPC and other power stakeholders to come to our aid, and I am very glad to have you here for this purpose.”
Zulum said the YEDC has the infrastructure on ground to link up and supply the people with power from the plant when completed.
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