FG Budgets N158m for Generator Fuel, Others at Power Ministry

The Federal Government is proposing to spend a total of N158m for
the maintenance and fuelling of generators at the Federal Ministry of
Power, Works and Housing.

According to the budget proposal for the ministry in the 2018
Appropriation Bill that is currently before the National Assembly, part
of the N158m is to be used by the FMPWH to also fuel motor vehicles.

Findings by Punch correspondent showed that virtually all the
agencies under the ministry, as well as the FMPWH headquarters, proposed
to spend millions of naira on generator fuel in the 2018 fiscal year.

This, however, was despite the occasional pronouncements of the
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, that his
ministry was working hard to increase Nigeria’s power production and
supply, stabilise it, as well as make it constant.

An analysis of the 2018 Appropriation Bill for the FMPWH showed
that the ministry headquarters in Abuja will be spending the highest
amount on maintenance of plants/generators, plant/generator fuel cost
and motor vehicle fuel cost than the individual spending on the same
items in all other agencies under the ministry.

The FMPWH headquarters will spend N26.6m, N16.3m and N36.6m on
maintenance of plants/generators, plant/generator fuel cost and motor
vehicle fuel cost, respectively.

For the three items highlighted earlier, the National Rural
Electrification Agency is to spend N2.5m, N7.5m and N5m, respectively,
while the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency will spend
N2m, N4m and N7m, respectively.

Similarly, the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria is to
spend N1.5m each on maintenance of plants/generators, plant/generator
fuel cost and motor vehicle fuel cost, while the Nigerian Electricity
Liability Management Company will spend N2.3m, N3.3m and N5.4m,
respectively.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Transmission
Company of Nigeria and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company had
no allocation for maintenance of plants/generators, plant/generator
fuel cost and motor vehicle fuel cost.

Other agencies under the FMPWH, including the Office of the
Surveyor-General of the Federation, Federal School of Survey, Federal
Road Maintenance Agency, Survey Council of Nigeria and Council for the
Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, had allocations for maintenance of
plants/generators, plant/generator fuel cost and motor vehicle fuel
cost.

Also, N10.6m was allocated for plant/generator fuel cost at FERMA.
Further findings showed that a total of N40.8m was allocated for the
maintenance of plants/generators in the ministry, N50.9m for
plant/generator fuel cost and N66.2m was proposed for motor vehicle fuel
cost.