Nigerian press spotlights growth of national grid power capacity to 14,000mw, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Nigerian Government through the Association of Power Generation Companies has grown the power capacity of the national grid from 13, 000mw recorded a few years ago to about 14,000mw is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian Government through the Association of Power Generation Companies has grown the power capacity of the national grid from 13, 000megawatts recorded a few years ago to about 14,000 MW.
APGC’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Joy Ogaji, while speaking with The PUNCH on the sideline of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria’s 2023 annual international strategic conference last week Thursday, said electricity generation capacity to the national grid has increased to almost 14,000MW.
Dr Ogaji explained that the increase was brought about due to the addition of a $1.3bn Niger state-based 700MW Zungeru hydroelectric plant which came on stream in the second quarter of the year.
“The national grid now has an installed power generation capacity of about 14, 000 megawatts, and this was made possible due to the Zungeru plant that came on stream this year,” she said, adding that it was an opportunity for interested investors to partner with the Gencos.
The Federal Government had in February, announced Mainstream Energy Solution Limited as the preferred bidder for the concession of the plant. The company had offered a fee of $700m per year for a period of 30 years to operate the plant.
Despite the 14,000MW claim by Ojagi, checks by The PUNCH on the records of the Nigerian Electricity System Operator showed that the latest on-grid peak power generation as of Saturday, was 4,803.60 MW.
The newspaper says that the Chief Executive Officers and top management staff of banks may also be probed during the ongoing investigation of the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to findings by The PUNCH, some bank CEOs would be invited in an effort to ascertain any discrepancies around the management of intervention funds by deposit money banks.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria may be asked to withdraw its audited annual financial reports, which were recently released.
This came after a team investigating the apex bank discovered discrepancies and irregularities in the financial accounts.
In August, the CBN released its financial accounts for the years 2016 to 2022 amid an ongoing probe of the financial services sector regulator by a Special Investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu had on July 28 appointed a former Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Jim Obazee, as Special Investigator to probe the activities of the apex bank under its suspended governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Aside from the CBN, the special investigator is also investigating the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, FRC, and other Government Business Entities.
The Guardian reports that the controversy over President Bola Tinubu’s Chicago State University (CSU) certificate, which reached a crescendo last week following the deposition of the president’s academic records at a United States court continued yesterday, as former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, accused President Tinubu of twisting the deposition made by CSU.
Atiku said Tinubu’s intention was to twist the facts of the matter, “which deliberately aims to confuse the mind of the public concerning the matter.”
In a statement released by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, said “some media aides to the president have come out openly to ‘push back on the narrative’, while some media houses, especially one, have persistently slanted their story to justify a corrupted interpretation of the facts in the deposition.
“Sadly, however, the truth of the matter remains that President Tinubu falsified a document he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and swore an affidavit under oath to back up his forgery.
“On page 26 of the deposition, which is publicly available, Registrar of CSU, Caleb Westberg, under oath, was asked a simple question that “CSU has determined that it does not have a true and correct copy of the diploma issued to Bola Tinubu in 1979, to which the Registrar responded, “that’s correct.”
“Also, on page 27, a similar question was put to Westberg: ‘So, CSU, after going through every diploma, was unable to find an authentic copy of any diploma that CSU issued to Tinubu in 1979. Is that correct?’ The CSU Registrar, in his response, said: ‘We did not find any diploma issued by CSU in 1979 to Mr. Tinubu.’
And coming straight to the specific issue of whether CSU is aware of, or in possession of the diploma that Tinubu submitted to INEC, to which Westberg simply said, “Correct, we are not aware of it.”
Reacting to Atiku’s insistence of forgery allegations against the President, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said the Supreme Court will find President Tinubu not guilty of certificate forgery, adding that until the vendor who issued a replacement certificate to President Tinubu denies the document, there is no case against him.
Keyamo stated this in a long tweet posted on X yesterday. Addressing the controversies over CSU records, Keyamo insisted that “you cannot allege or prove forgery except the purported maker of the document denies its authenticity.”
The newspaper says that US President Joe Biden has ordered US ships and warplanes to move closer to Israel in a show of support on Sunday, while sending fresh military aid after attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Pentagon said it was sending the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its accompanying warships to the eastern Mediterranean, while boosting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.
US Central Command confirmed Sunday afternoon that ships and planes had begun moving to their new posts.
At least four American citizens are known to have been killed in the violence so far, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The White House has moved quickly to affirm US backing for Israel after Saturday’s surprise attack from the Gaza Strip, vowing “rock solid” support and warning other parties to stay out of the conflict.
Biden on Sunday spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “conveyed that additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces is now on its way to Israel with more to follow over the coming days,” the White House said.
“The leaders also discussed ongoing efforts to ensure that no enemies of Israel believe they can or should seek advantage from the current situation,” it said in a statement.
GIK/APA