President Buhari has made an attempt to improve electricity in Nigeria. On Thursday in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari vowed that Nigeria would continue to be committed to its partnership with Siemens and the German government to enhance the nation’s electricity production.
The President welcomed representatives of Siemens Energy AG and urged them to continue working to fulfill the government’s promise to Nigerians to deliver the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).
The President informed Dr. Christian Bruch, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Siemens Energy, Nadia Haakansson, CEO of Siemens Africa, and Mr. Seun Suleiman, CEO of Siemens Nigeria, that the collaboration’s results would provide vital business enablers and opportunities to involve young, entrepreneurial Nigerians in a variety of endeavors.
The President commended the initiative’s training of 200 Nigerian engineers in network development studies, describing it as “a very essential upskilling and information transfer process.”
The President continued by expressing excitement for the 5,000 engineers who would have received training at the program’s conclusion.
The President thanked the German Government, through the former Chancellor, Angela Merkel, for kindly supporting the nation, which led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens. He recalled his promise to Nigerians earlier in this administration to improve electricity supply by resolving capacity deficit across the sector’s value chain.
He also expressed his gratitude to Olaf Scholz, the German government’s chancellor, for continuing to support the PPI.
”A plan to deliver capacity improvements of 2,000 Megawatts in the transmission-distribution interface is now firmly the focus of PPI Phase I.
”In April 2022, the Honourable Minister of Power briefed me on the outcome of his visit to Germany where he held meetings with Siemens executives.
”That visit was fruitful in emphasizing the need to expedite delivery of the pilot PPI project, elements of which have started arriving in the country.
”The Honourable Minister also mentioned that you, Dr. Bruch, will pay a visit to Nigeria, and we are glad that you are with us today.
”The PPI remains a priority project for our Administration and Nigerians believe in the value that the Siemens’ brand can deliver.
”On our part, nothing is spared to ensure we improve the lives and livelihoods of our citizens,” he said
President Buhari expressed satisfaction over some significant developments in the PPI implementation plans and added that the first batch of two Siemens-delivered power transformers would be put into service in November 2022.
The president of Nigeria expressed gratitude to the German government for approving Euler Hermes to cover the cost of the PPI pilot project, stressing that this will serve as a model for the following stages.
”I have been reliably assured that 10 Power Transformers and 10 Mobile Substations would have been completely delivered and installed by May 2023.
”This is in spite of production challenges and constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has severely impacted global production and supply chain.”
The President acknowledged that the general foundations for technical and business arrangements were being finished
”However, what I would like to see is that we attain completion of the entire transaction process by December 2022. This will entrench the mandate of the PPI in full committal terms.”
The Minister of Power, Engr Abubakar Aliyu, thanked the President for ”the remarkable vision of PPI, adding that Nigerians will be thankful to him for a long time after leaving office, “because the power sector will be revitalized.”
