Imported User:
Vice President Namadi Sambo on Friday directed that henceforth vandals of gas pipelines and electricity equipment should be treated as economic saboteurs and be punished accordingly.
Sambo gave the directive on the occasion of the 22nd Meeting of the Board of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the issue of sabotage needed to be handled with the seriousness it deserved as it was drawing back government efforts at achieving its set target of constant power supply and denying Nigerians the benefit thereof.
On the ongoing power projects across the country, Sambo said that henceforth dates for inauguration of completed projects should be ``a definite one not a guess date’’.
He, therefore, ordered that the completion date for projects in Lot 22-1 should remain Dec. 13, 2012.
The vice president further directed the management of the NDPHC to query any contractor who failed to achieve 50 per cent completion on his/her project at the stated time.
He said this had become necessary because government intended to inaugurate all power projects at the stipulated time.
Sambo directed that the ``issue of way-leave” should be discussed and concluded with the management of NDPHC within a maximum period of two months.
Way-leave is an electricity agreement for which we pay an annual rent and compensation.
On the acquisition of land at Alaoji in Abia in which N200 billion had already been earmarked for payment of compensation, he said discussion on the matter should be completed within a month or government would build on its own land.
In order to brief the Federal Executive Council on the status of the NDPHC, Sambo directed that details of the establishment, certificate of incorporation and other relevant issues of the company be prepared.
He added that share certificates should also be prepared to be given to local governments.
The meeting also approved the variation order for additional works on the 330/132kV Lokoja Sub-station and Ajaokuta 330/132KV line.
The board noted that the Alaoji Power Station had been completed but the problem of gas supply and transmission remained the issues to be resolved before it can come on stream.
