FG seeks land from Kano for Bichi, Kanye power substations

We’ll allocate the land – Kano Govt   The Federal Ministry of Power has sought for the allocation of lands by the Kano State Government to construct 132 kilovolts (kV) power transmission substations in Bichi and Kanye in the state. The federal government made the request in a letter by the Minister of Power, Engr. […]

• We’ll allocate the land – Kano Govt

 

The Federal Ministry of Power has sought for the allocation of lands by the Kano State Government to construct 132 kilovolts (kV) power transmission substations in Bichi and Kanye in the state.

The federal government made the request in a letter by the Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, on Monday for the 132/33kV substation projects which will have two units of 60MVA power transformers each.

The projects which will be delivered by the contractors of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) are in Kano North Senatorial Zone, with the contractors already mobilized but can’t execute them due to lack of space, the letter stated.

In March 2021, the former Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman said the Federal Executive Council approved the construction of the two power substations in Kano, and another in Zaki Biam, Benue along with other power projects.

He had said the projects’ cost about N11.3 billion with Bichi going for $9.6m (N3.941bn) plus N1.7bn local content making it N5.641bn while Kanye will gulp $9.5m (N3.9bn) plus N1.7bn, totalling N5.6bn.

The projects were initiated by the Senator representing Kano North Senatorial District, Senator Barau I. Jibrin.

“In this circumstance therefore, Your Excellency, it shall be appreciated if you graciously grant TCN, an approval by allocating land for the execution of the projects at Kanye and Bichi Local Government Areas in Kano State,” the minister said in the letter

Responding to an enquiry by Daily Trust, governor Ganduje said the state is eager for the projects to take off and will support with the land and other needs.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, the governor said “pieces of lands were (earlier) allocated for the project and at the final stage of informing the relevant authorities for take-off, at that tail end of the process, the state government found out that the allocated piece of land was not suitable for that gigantic project.

“So, the state government has now decided to allocate another land for the projects. In fact the process for the allocation of a more suitable land has already started. This is a project that the state government is welcoming because it will boost the socio-economic development of the state.”

He said what must have happened, which necessitated the letter from the Federal Ministry of Power, could be described as a communication gap.