Abuja – The Senate has expressed reservation over the actualisation of the Mambila power project, describing it as a mirage.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Sen. Gabriel Suswam said this at the 2023 budget defence of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under the Ministry of Power in Abuja .
He said that the project was a mirage as far as National Assembly is concerned because money has been budgeted for many years and there was nothing to show for it.
He said the initial scope of the project was slightly about 3,000 megawatts, saying that there were issues.
“We were told that it was going to be re-scoped, even the re-scoping of the project has not been done
“So, in essence, it means that there is no project that is on the ground like Mambilla.
“It is all about talks and lips service, that is why we are concerned about the money that is provided for consultancy and the money used for the training of staff that is supposed to be utilised if Mambilla was in place,” Suswam said.
He said that his committee has directed the Minister of Power to ask the Permanent Secretary and other desk officers to appear before it to explain how previous yearly budgetary allocations for Mambila project have been utilised.
“Since 2017, monies have been provided for Mambila but nothing was done on the project despite the pressure we have been mounting on the federal government.
“It is clear that the Mambilla power project will not be able to start before the end of this administration,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Power, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu said the ministry met with stakeholders in the Mambila project and all issues of concern have been resolved.
He added that the litigation on the project was the only problem hampering its commencement.
