Minister of power Sale Mamman says Nigerians have electricity for at least 18 hours a day

NIGERIA'S minister of power Sale Mamman has boasted about the fact that members of the public now enjoy between 18 to 24 hours of electricity daily as a result of the improvements brought about by the current Buhari administration.

Plagued by a chronic problem of inadequate electricity supply, Nigeria only supplies about 4,000MW, which is about only 10% of demand. This has resulted in most people having to use private generators, with a devastating environmental effect as diesel fumes and noise pollution are now the norm in most Nigerian cities.

Although the country can generate 7,000MW, structural problems with the transmission and distribution system have hampered the delivery of everything generated. This leads to constant power cuts, which the population combats through the use of private generators but according to Mr Mamman, must Nigerians have power for most of the day.

Pointing out that the Buhari administration has improved the power sector, Mr Mamman said 132 sub-stations have been improved and the 40MW Kashimbilla station has been completed. He added that work on Zungeru station in Niger State has reached 70% completion and feasibility studies on the Mambilla plant have been concluded and contractors will soon begin construction.

Mr Mamman said: “We have improved our services. Before this government, they gave light for less than 10 hours a day but today I can tell you that we give light from 18 to 24 hours in a day.”

He added that before now, Nigeria had less than 3,000MW of capacity generation. Mr Mamman assured the public that power supply would further improve after Siemens of Germany begins work in the sector.