Abuja, Aug. 4, 2023 – President Bola Tinubu on Friday kicked off the construction of the 1,350mw Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant (GIPP) in Abuja.
He described the project as another important piece of national infrastructure.
Tinubu said the ground-breaking was highly significant to the nation as it marked the first bold step in his administration’s effort to establish a strong and virile energy sector and deliver uninterrupted power to all Nigerians.
He said he made a commitment to Nigerians to use all available energy sources to increase power generation beyond the current installed capacity of 12,000mw during his presidential campaign,
The president promised to strengthen the integrity of the country’s transmission infrastructure and to ensure that all distribution bottlenecks were removed.
“Nigeria cannot become a productive and industrialised economy, we cannot tackle poverty or create thousands of high paying manufacturing jobs unless we can generate, transmit and distribute reliable electricity.
“To accelerate our economic growth, we must remove every obstacle slowing our progress.
“That this project which is taking off so early in the lifetime of this administration should serve as notice to the residents of Abuja and, indeed, to all Nigerians of our determination to bring positive change to this nation,” the president said.
Tinubu said that under the NNPC-NIPCO partnership, 35 state-of-the-art CNG stations wouldl be constructed nationwide, including three mother stations.
He said that he was determined to address all the challenges in the power sector and reduce the power-related hardships experienced by many Nigerians.
“Taking advantage of the global declaration of gas as ‘transition fuel’ as well as the enabling provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), we shall attract greater investment in the oil and gas sector.
“Through such investments, we shall harness the over 200 trillion cubic feet of proven national gas reserves within our borders to develop our national infrastructure, create millions of new jobs and opportunities and stimulate economic growth and development,” he said.
Tinubu commended the efforts of the NNPC Ltd, alongside its partners for the initiative and charged the team to ensure that the three-year project is successfully delivered on time, and within budget.
Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive of NNPC, Mele Kyari, said Nigeria was endowed with significant natural gas resources of over 209TCF of proven gas reserves, and potential reserve of over 600TCF.
He said the NNPC viewed the project as an opportunity to monetise the country’s abundant natural gas resources, by expanding access to energy to support economic growth, industrialisation and job creation. (GBN)
