Damilola Shittu – Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of two committees for the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.
He approved the Inter-ministerial Steering Committee and Project Delivery Committee for the N2trn power project.
The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, is to chair the inter-ministerial steering committee, while the director in charge of Renewable Energy in the Federal Ministry of Power will head the project delivery committee.
The director is to report to the power minister through the permanent secretary of the ministry.
The Special Assistant to the Minister of Power on Media and Communications, Aaron Artimas, said members of the Inter-ministerial Steering Committee were representatives of Federal Government agencies and Taraba State Government.
He said the Federal Government agencies involved were ministries of Water Resources, Environment, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Works and Housing, Justice, Information and Culture, and Mines and Steel Development.
Others included representatives of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, National Security Adviser, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and the Nigeria Customs Service.
The terms of reference of the Inter-ministerial Steering Committee include facilitating and fast-tracking the execution and project delivery of the Mambilla hydroelectric power project.
They are to finalise within six months the review of the project engineering and technical design concept to achieve optimal efficiency and benefit the immediate target market (the North-East geopolitical zone).
They are to also obtain approval of the loan facility from the China Exim Bank for the offshore component of the project based on the reviewed contract price.
The Inter-ministerial Steering Committee will be supported by the Project Delivery Committee, which will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the project in line with agreed timelines and deliverables.
The delivery committee will oversee the design of a framework for post-project operational management that will ensure that the project starts performing from the point of delivery, according to Artimas.
He added that an independent consultant would coordinate the administrative and the stakeholders’ aspect of project implementation.
