Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko

Mohammed Aminu 

Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, said the N3.8 billion Independent Power Project (1PP) will be completed early this year.

Wamakko, who disclosed this yesterday, while inspecting power components at the 1PP project site at Arkilla area of Sokoto metropolis, said in spite of the initial hiccups witnessed in the execution of the project, the power plant was expected to be completed early 2013.

He stated that already, the turbines being the major component of the power plant had been supplied, stressing that 14 containers of accessories for the turbines had been cleared at the port and would soon be delivered to the state for onward installation.

“As soon as the components arrive Sokoto State, engineers will commence installation. We want to ensure that companies in the state are provided with sufficient power to carry out their production and we hope a lot of  companies will come in to establish factories  when the projects comes on stream,” he said.

Wamakko noted that the state government was behind schedule in the completion of the project and attributed the problem to delay in getting letters of credit and the transportation of heavy duty equipments from Dubai.

He pointed out the project when completed will provide the state with 30 mega watts of electricity, adding that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria currently supplies only 15 mega watts to Sokoto.

The governor disclosed that his administration spent about N818 million on the provision of solar street lightening in some selected locations in the Sokoto metropolis and Gwadabawa local government area last year.

He added that the objective was to complement the inadequate power supplies from the national grid and improve security in the state.