Federal Government
of Nigeria has earmarked $8 billion dollars for the execution of the Nigerian
Gas Master Plan with specific interest in meeting the gas-to-power demand in
the country.
Vice President
Namadi Sambo stated this at a forum on investment in the power sector in Abuja.
He said the
programme would be jointly implemented by Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Gas Commission (NGC) and the private sector.
According to him,
already $500 million dollars of the 1billion dollars realised from Euro-Bond
would be utilized as counterpart funding for implementation of the project.
He said government
had also embarked on an extensive programme for the upgrading of the nation’s
power transmission capacity.
He announced that
the PHCN asset would be handed over to private sector operators on Sept. 30.
Sambo reassured
that government would continue to improve the efficiency and affordability of
power supply in the country.
He also commended
the private sector and the banking industry for supporting government efforts
to improve the power situation in the country through their positive response
to financing the Independent power projects.
He particularly
commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for kick-starting the privatization
process through its N300 billion intervention fund for the power and aviation
sectors of the economy.
According to
Sambo, in the coming years more demand would be placed on the banking sector to
support power infrastructure renewal and the industrial development to support
the power sector.
In his remark, the
Governor of CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the forum was to review the
contributions of the banking industry to the power sector reform programme.
According to him,
the CBN in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance is reviewing the
Development Finance Institutions to facilitate the financing of critical
development projects.
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