CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Senate yesterday unanimously resolved to probe the $5.79 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project (MHEPP) located in Taraba State.
The probe will look at steps taken since 1999 till date to execute the project, without success.
The power project planned to deliver 3,050 megawatts of power to the national grid.
The project had suffered hiccups seven years after the Federal Ministry of Power signed a full contract with a consortium of Chinese contractors comprising CGGC, SHC, and CGOC in 2017.
The federal lawmakers noted that the Mambilla Power Plant could have gone a long way in addressing the power woes if it had been executed for use by Nigerians.
The Senate resolution followed a debate on a motion moved by Senator Manu Haruna (Taraba-Central) and supported by 28 others.
The Senate resolved to probe the circumstances surrounding the apparent failure of the plant to come on stream seven years after the signing of the full contract.
It also suggested the urgency for the administration of President Bola Tinubu to include the plant among its ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ legacy projects to ensure that it was delivered.
The Senate recalled that the Federal Executive Council under the administration of former President Muhammad Buhari approved the $5.78bn contract with an agreed Joint Venture (JV) funding structure of 85% from the Chinese consortium (CGGC-45%, SHC-35%, and CGOC-20%) and 15° from the Federal Government of Nigeria as counterpart funding for the entire project.
It had a 72-month completion timeline.
Apart from the 3050MW expected to be generated by the plant, it was planned to reposition the Ajaokuta Steel Complex with $1.7bn, making it a priority national project.
Haruna said: “The project has great benefits for local content in the area of human capital development, including the creation of over 55,000 jobs; construction of resettlement homes for over 100,000 people.
“It has the capacity of hauling and supplying of over 2.7million tons of steel; production and supply of over 76 million tons of quarry stone; and the opportunity for Ashaka and Benue cement plants to produce and supply cement.”
Meanwhile, the Senate has passed into law the bill seeking the establishment of North Central Development Commission (NCDC), sponsored by the senator representing Benue South Senatorial District and Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro and the other senators from North Central Nigeria.
The bill was first sponsored in the 9th Senate by Senator Moro where it passed First and Second Readings but could not get presidential assent before the expiration of the 9th Senate.
Moro had argued in his lead debate that the commission, when established would be saddled with the responsibility of receiving and managing funds from the federal government and donors for the resettlement, rehabilitation, integration and reconstruction of roads.
He also said it would reconstruct houses and business premises of victims of flood and farmers/herders’ clashes, and communal clashes.
He also said the fund would be used for the construction of large format drainage systems, dredging of rivers Niger and Benue to control flood and incidental matters, as well as tackling the menace of poverty, illiteracy and other related environmental or developmental challenges facing the North Central Nigeria.
Similarly, the age long wish of the Nigeria Police Force to have an exclusive Pension Board like the military outfits, got a boost Thursday in Senate with passage of a bill to that effect for second reading.
The passage of the bill, titled: “Police Pension Board (Establishment) Bill,” by the Senate for second reading, was sequel to lead debate presented on it by the sponsor, Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe (PDP Adamawa South), and exhaustive debate on it by many senators.
Yaroe in his lead debate said men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force are disadvantaged by being lumped with other public agencies under the contributory pension scheme, managed by the Pension Commission (PENCOM).
He said the practice was unlike what other frontline security agencies like the Army, Navy, Airforce, Department of State Security Services (DSS, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) were currently enjoying.
Yaroe said a cursory look at the difference between the pension and gratuity benefits of the Nigeria Police and its counterpart in the military, shows that the benefit of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) under the current pension scheme is N2.5million, while the equivalents of DSP in the Army (Captain), Navy (Lieutenant), Air Force (Flight Lieutenant) and DSS, (Captain), are paid N12.8million.
This, according to him, means that the Nigerian Police Force is receiving equivalent of 19.5% Pension benefit of their colleagues in the sister agencies.
“The broad objective of this bill, is to bring equality, equity and justice in the payment of pensions between the police and her sister agencies while boosting the morale of the serving personnel and equally, to enhance the standard of living of retired personnel of the Nigerian Police Force.
“The inclusion and continuous stay of the NPF in PENCOM, has placed them on the wrong end of post service emolument life despite being saddled with the responsibility of not only protecting the lives and property of the citizenry but also detecting, preventing and investigating crimes as well as prosecuting offences,” he said.
