The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, on Friday said that the huge investment of the federal government in the power sector was being under utilized.
Adelabu made this known during a tour of all federal government power installations in Benin.
Speaking with newsmen at the Ihovbor plant in Benin, Adelabu said that government had invested so much money in the energy sector, adding that Nigerians were still battling with power supply issues.
“I have gone round this installation and I am quite impressed with what we have here.
“Contrary to general belief, Nigeria has invested so much in power generating plants and these plants are the state-of-the-art plants.
“They are well maintained, they are in a very good conditions that can give us the kind of power generation that we need in this country, except that there are a lot of capacity distortions,” he said.
The Minister added that only 20 per cent out of the 500 megawatt capacity power plant was being utilized, saying it was a gross lack of optimization.
According to him, “if we have put in so much into establishing these power plants, it should be able to give us the kind of power that we require.”
He assured Nigerians that all the problems bedeviling the power sector would soon be a thing of the past, noting that the ministry was working on how to solve the problem of gas shortage.
“Ihovbor plant is a plant with four gas plants, in a very good condition, with a capacity of about 125 megawatts each which is a total of 500 megawatts
“I will like to mention that succour is close to us because the ministries of finance, budget and economic and power have met with Mr president on the way forward.
“The president has mandated us to go and work out how we are going to defray the outstanding debts being owed generation companies,” Adelabu added.