Power: Mambilla Power Project not prioritised by Ministry of Power for 2021 Budget – Finance Minister

The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said the reason the Mambilla Power project was not captured in the 2021 budget is because it was not prioritised by the Ministry of Power.

The Minister disclosed this on Tuesday during the budget defense of her Ministry at the House of Representatives in Abuja. She said that the Mambilla Project was not removed by the Ministry of Finance in the 2021  Budget but was not prioritised by the Ministry of Power.

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” The Ministries know what their priorities are, they are the ones to indicate.

“So if the Minister of Power did not have Mambilla in their submission, it is because they did not provide it, we do not provide the programmes that go into the budget for the Ministries. That’s their responsibility,” Ahmed said.

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Ahmed explained further that the Ministry of Power exceeded the available envelope for its budget.

The Senate had earlier expressed displeasure when it discovered that the much talked about Mambilla Power Project was not captured by the Federal Government in the 2021 Budget.

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What you should know

Nairametrics reported last month that President Muhammadu Buhari presented a budget of  N13.08 trillion to the National Assembly. Buhari disclosed that key power projects under the budget will be the Multiple Rural Electrification Projects, Mambilla Hydro Power Project, Zungeru Hydro Power Project, and others.

Expected to commence operation in 2030, the Mambilla hydropower project is a 3.05GW hydroelectric facility being developed on the Dongo River near Baruf, in Kakara Village of Taraba State.  

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Nairametrics reported in January that The Federal Government disbursed funds as compensation to the owners of the land and other property affected by the construction of the Mambilla Hydropower Power plant.

In March, no less than N700 million was disbursed to carry out survey works on the project site of 3,050 megawatts Mambilla Hydropower Plant in Taraba.