WARRI— WHO among the “powerful” officials of the Delta State government ordered the stoppage or thwarted the supply of transformers and other accessories by the state government to the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) for a stable power supply to Sapele, Delta State, which hosts the Thermal Power Plant that produces 30 per cent of NEPA’s total generating capacit? Or is it the state government that is playing politics with the issue of power supply to Sapele?
What is the ulterior motive of the masquerading officials who have gone to town with the story that it was the state government that provided the facilities for the September 21 system voltage change over from 6.6KV to 11KV at Amukpe, Sapele, a false claim that has pitched the government against NEPA?
These were some of the questions concerned residents of Sapele who insisted, yesterday, that 11KV was not enough to guarantee a dependable power supply to the town were asking following a confirmation that Governor James Ibori approved the release of a transformer and other accessories to NEPA for the Sapele electricity project and was shocked to hear that nothing was released to NEPA.
Chief Operating Officer of NEPA, Benin Distribution Zone, Engr. Mary Akiode, was livid with rage when she spoke to Vanguard in Benin City on the claim that the Delta State government provided the transformer and other accessories that were used for the system change over. Her words: “Let the Delta State government tell me what they have done. They have done nothing as far as Sapele change over is concerned and I will repeat that to anybody’s face. There is no issue of the state government trying to claim credit, the state government cannot claim credit here. These transformers were provided by NEPA.
“The Delta State governor, Chief Ibori promised…I held some discussions with him, not even once, twice when I paid a courtesy call on him the other time, when we were discussing and the work they were doing along the Airport Road in Warri when they were breaking our electric poles and destroying our cables. I sought audience with him and we discussed. The issue of Sapele came up, he was surprised because at an earlier meeting, he was ready to give us the distribution transformers we needed to get the system change over done in Sapele.
“So, when he found that nothing had been done and meanwhile, our own power transformer was already there at Amukpe. He called his Director of Energy and Power and Commissioner, I suppose, asked them what was holding it, there was really nothing concrete. So he said they should go ahead and release the transformers to NEPA so that we could get the job done. I wrote back to thank him later for the gesture but nothing else happened since then.
“When they got to know that we were going to start work around May/June. The reason they even knew was that I decided to tell the people that we had got some transformers and instead of waiting for the state government to come and give us what they wanted to give us to complete everything at once, I felt we could do a certain part of the town, and even when we do that, those that were not changed because we were going to remove some load from that side, it means their own supply would improve even before we got the total thing done. So we went on air to let the people know that we were going to start now and that they should bear with us because each time you want to do this type of thing, you are going to be putting them on and off. That was the purpose of the announcement.
The next thing I saw was a letter from the Director of Power and Energy, referring to our earlier letter on the issue, asking me if we could use300KV because they were not able to get a 500KV because of one thing or the other. He was here in my office, saying that the cost the supplier was asking for was too high, that they had 300KV, I said no problem, give us whatever you have, we will add it to what we have. And he went away, nothing happened again. The letter he wrote to me, he was asking me where and when I wanted the transformer delivered. That was after we went to the site-working at Amukpe.
“I wrote back to tell him that the issue of when the transformers were needed was neither here nor there because it was supposed to have been given to us since last year but that any way, they were needed already, that we were already on site. As to where, they have to be delivered to my store in Benin City for accountability. That was the last thing we heard. We have not heard anything since that time.”
She said the NEPA went ahead to execute the job based on “what is available in our store and that is what we have done. We have not got any feed back from the state government to say that they are giving us anything or not given us anything. We were not supposed to play politics with people’s life. So I do not believe in just making noise for people to say that you are working.
They know where their transformers are, they know what they want to do with their transformers. I am planning with what I have. The 24 transformers that you saw there were put there by NEPA and if you look at them , you will see the name of NEPA boldly engraved on them. There is nothing to argue about.”
But even as the state government and NEPA battle over which of them takes the glory for the system change over, Vanguard investigations showed that until the 132 line is stepped to a 32 KV, Sapele people would be having an epileptic power supply. Contract for the step down was awarded in 1993 by the Federal Government and since then, the contractor has not been fully mobilised to embark on the project.
The transformer and some accessories for the project had been lying in Benin City office of NEPA since last year when they were finally brought and workers of the authority in Sapele are living in fear following threats by the villagers to lock them up if adequate power supply is not provided for them.
Engr Akiode said, however, that she stood to be challenged that power supply in Sapele had improved since the change over but agreed that what Sapele required for an uninterrupted and reliable power supply was a step down from 133 to 32KV.
Her words, “Some people are saying that what we have done is not going to guarantee power supply, that is because people do not understand how the system works. I did not say during my speech that they do not need 132KV . What we have done complements what is going to come out when you have a step down to 33. In some houses, you have 230 volts and 400 volts, which is a tiny fraction of what the step down voltage is going to pick. You cannot have one without the other. Even if you step down the 132 today to 32 KV and they are still on their 6.6KV, they are not going to enjoy a good light because the equipment on the system are obsolete, we cannot expand, we cannot replace bad ones. So they go together.”
