Hajiya Zanaib Kuchi, the Minister of State for Power, on Friday said that the Federal Ministry of Power would be restructured in 2013 to deal with the inevitable challenges facing the sector
Kuchi, who made this known at the 4th Quarterly Power Summit in Lagos, said that the restructuring was to place the ministry in a more defined direction.
She said that the country’s power generation would improve significantly as most of the independent power projects would be commissioned in 2013.
The minister said that the power sector would be more private-sector driven in 2013
?“In this regards, I will continue to seek the cooperation of our development partners, whether international or local, in ensuring sustainability of supply along the electricity value chain.
“We should be seen as working together harmoniously in order to attain a common goal of making electricity available to consumers on sustainable basis.
“The summit has indeed been able to bring about appreciable improvement in the country’s power supply and l am happy to sincerely associate myself with the noble ideals of the summit,” she said.
Kuchi said that sustainable power supply was not only part of the President Goodluck Jonathans’ transformation agenda, but also central to the transformation process.
According to her, this can be achieved through hard-work, commitment, dedication and cooperation of all the key players within the value chain.
Kuchi said that the ministry had signed the contract for the Zungeru Power Project which would generate additional 700 mega watts on completion to the national grid.
Mrs Dere Awosika, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said that the summit was expected to draw the sector closer to its goals.
Awosika said that the ministry had successfully concluded the PHCN- labour debacle and that the country had attained a power generation of 550 mega watts.
Awosika said that the summit was to discuss issues, progress and challenges in the sector with a view to formulating strategies and designs to mitigate them.
She said that some of the notable challenges in the sector were human weaknesses and failure as well as poor planning and implementation.
The theme of the summit was “Strategies towards Consolidating Sustainable Power Supply in a Privatised Industry.
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