The federal ministry of power having a budget for fuel and generator is a sign of hopelessness that Nigeria might never have 24 hour electricity in the next decade.
An analysis of the 2019 budget proposal of the FMPWH that was recently submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly showed that the ministry and its agencies had proposed to spend N167.96m this year on the purchase, maintenance and fueling of generators/plants.
Nigeria currently generates and distributes an average of 4,000 megawatts of electricity and the sector is still suffering from a serious liquidity crisis despite being privatised since November 1, 2013.
The 2019 budget proposal revealed that at the headquarters of the power ministry, a total sum of N26.6m was budgeted for maintenance of plants/generators, while plant/generator fuel cost was put at N16.3m.
The FMPWH headquarters also made a budget proposal of N50m for the purchase of generators.
The National Rural Electrification Agency proposed to spend N488, 000 on the maintenance of plants and generators, while N1.55m was budgeted as fuel cost for its plants and generators.
In its 2019 budget proposal, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency’s headquarters proposed to spend N2m on maintenance of plants and generators. It plans to spend N4m to fuel the plants and generators in 2019.
The National Power Training Institute made a proposal of N1.5m for the maintenance of plants and generators and intends to spend another N1.5m for the fuelling of the equipment.
The Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Limited proposed N2.3m and N3.31m for the maintenance and fuel cost of plants/generators respectively, while the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, under the works arm of the FMPWH, proposed N3.1m and N5.84m for the maintenance and fuelling of its plants/generators in the 2019 fiscal year.
The Federal School of Survey, Uyo, only budgeted for the maintenance of generators/plants at a cost of N1m, while the Federal Road Maintenance Agency’s proposal for maintenance of plants/generators and fuel cost were put at N1.62m and N10.59m respectively.
