…Wins Young Achiever Award

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

The Managing Director/CEO, Niger Delta Power Holding, Engr. Jennifer Adighije has urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps to settle the N4 trillion debt owed to power generation companies and ease the liquidity challenges facing the power sector.

Adighije who made the appeal while speaking to journalists after receiving the Young Achiever Award at the Energy Times Awards in Lagos, said the payment of the debt would boost power supply to customers.

The organisers said Adighije was selected for the award for having shown an “unwavering commitment to the sector-wide goal of 6,000 megawatts power generation to ensure widespread access to quality electricity.”

It was stated that briefly after her appointment in August 2024, Adighije ensured the restoration of two turbine units that had been offline due to bearing defects, adding 230MW to the national power generation output.

She explained that “We are not unmindful to the fact that there is a liquidity crisis across the sector. We all know that the Federal Government owes power generation companies very copiously. We also know that the government has made some promises to ensure that they reduce the debt exposure to the barest minimum. And so, we are optimistic and we know that once cash flow improves, then our operational efficiency will also improve”.

She described the award as a humbling experience, especially as a new management team in the office in less than a year.

“It’s a very humbling experience for us at NDPHC. As you are aware, we’re a new management. We’ve been in office less than a year. This is a call to work harder,” she added.

Adighije stressed that the new management under her leadership has a clear mandate to scale power generation.

According to her, the NDPHC is the only agency with the express mandate to carry out interventions across the value chain, stressing that her team is not losing focus on the mandate.

“The mandate is very clear to us, which is to scale generation, transmission, and distribution capacity across the power sector. We are the only agency or institution or entity in the power sector with the express mandate to carry out interventions across the entire gas-to-electricity ecosystem. And we’re not losing sight of this,” she stated.

In attendance at the event were Executive Director, Corporate Services, Engr. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Executive Director, Finance & Accounts, Mr. Omololu Agoro, GM, Corporate Communications & External Relations, Mrs. Olufunke Nwankwo and the Head, Commercial Department, Mr. Okoro Ajah.