Zungeru project is a budget of N25 billion last year. But the Minister of power proposes N42 billion for it this year as a new project.
Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, made a flip flop when the senate committee on power pointed out a contradiction in his budget proposal for the Zungeru Power Plant.
He could not explain why N42 billion was proposed for the Zungeru Power Plant after N25 billion was provided for it in the 2021 budget.
The minister only assumed office in September after Mamman Saleh was sacked. Until his appointment, he was minister of state for works and housing. He probably didn’t study the budget before appearing at the senate committee seating today.
When questions started pouring in, especially from Senate Minority leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, he began to lose his voice, and to save the day, he blamed the contradiction on a typographical error.
According to Premium Times, Aliyu faltered when the committee demanded an explanation for the N42 billion proposed for the Zungeru Power Plant project which was tagged “new” in the 2022 budget proposal when N25 billion was already budgeted for the same project in 2021.
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Abaribe questioned how the Zungeru project, which already gulped N25 billion, was tagged “new” for another N42 billion to be expended in 2022.
He said: “Why should an ongoing project be tagged new. Does the term “new” refer to a new loan for the project or new Zungeru project which has been increased to N42 billion in the ministry’s 2022 budget?”
In his response, the minister apologised for the word “new” and said, it was a typographical error.
While he confirmed that the Zungeru project as captured in the proposed budget was not a new one, he explained that the multilateral loans are handled by the Ministry of Finance.
He, thereafter, referred the question to the head, energy resources of the ministry who also affirmed that the project was provided for by the ministry of finance for loan arrangements.
After Abaribe’s observation, the senators recalled that the same amount generated controversy between lawmakers of both chambers who described the amount budgeted for the Zungeru project as outrageous during the 2021 budget defence session.
The Chairman of the committee, Gabriel Suswam, noted that the loans collected are being paid back with no projects on the ground, to show what the loans were tied to.
The minister was therefore asked to return with all necessary details on the Zungeru project and its expenditure.
Aliyu presented a 2022 budget proposal of N301 billion for the ministry, with N294 billion for capital.
He said the federal government is set to commission the $1.3bn 700MW Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project, and the 40MW Kashimbilla Power Station in Taraba State, by the end of December 2021.
