Vice President Namadi Sambo is excited that the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN) is set to graduate 500 engineers that have been retrained to man the newly built power plants.
The Institute was established to undertake the training of personnel in the power sector especially engineers that will be able to man the newly built power plants across the country.
Speaking during the 29th meeting of the Board of Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria (NDPHC), operators of NIPP, at the State House, Abuja, the Vice President commended the vision of the Ministry of Power in establishing NAPTIN.
He however said that the institute should be upgraded in order to attract the patronage of other companies within and outside the country, adding that the private sector should be involved.
Sambo, who seems not comfortable with the inadequate funds coming from the Multi-year-Tariff-Order (MYTO) and inability to pay for gas, called for a meeting next week, to be attended by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Chairman, National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and other stakeholders concern.
He also frowned at some contractors who have not completed their work especially the work at the Gwagwalada sub-station which is said to be at 90 percent completion, stressing that though the time table for commissioning has been drawn.
The Vice President insisted that “I cannot take Mr. President to commission the power project that would fail immediately after commissioning. This Administration wants to deliver electricity power to Nigerians”.
The Board also expressed apprehension over the spate of vandalism in parts of the country especially the recent one at Afam in Delta State , where gas facilities were vandalised, noting that this has affected power output in the country.
While approving some memos brought to it by the Managing Director of NDPHC, the Board ordered for sensitization programme to be put in place especially to the grassroots, to stem the tide of vandalism in the country.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Mr. James Olotu, on behalf of Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, briefed the Board on the road show recently carried out in June.
He said following the divestiture of the 80% shares of the company which has necessitated the road show to attract interests from both local and foreign investors, the exercise was a huge success as it recorded over 400 participants in Lagos , London and New York had 200 and 100 participants and the lowest of 45 participants in Hong Kong .
Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo, also made a presentation on the Manpower requirement, cost implication and NAPTIN’s training capacity. He said presently, NAPTIN has 500 students about to be graduated from the institute.
He stressed the need for adequate funding, noting that N50 billion has already been given it, as the institution is capable of bridging the wide gap in the electrical engineering programmes in the education sector.
Speaking with State House correspondents, Governor Kayode Fayemi who is a member of the NDPHC board, said “we looked at the promise we made to Nigerians a couple of months ago about the energizing of the 4000 plus megawatts that we are completing all round the country and we looked at the potential challenges that might occur in that time table.
“We are still very confident that we will deliver according to the promise. But we know that there may be extenuating circumstances in a few of the plants that would not come on stream due to circumstances of force major that occur in those places,” he said.
