BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

The Nigerian Society of Engineers has called on the Federal government to remove procurement of infrastructure for Power projects from the normal Annual Budget funding structure and rather institute a five to ten years funding cycle saying that would be the only way to sustain investment in the sector and ensure completion of projects to bring power to Nigerians.

Speakingwhen he paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigerian, Engr.  Olusola O. Akinniranye, Engr. Shehu said Annual Budgeting structure does not allow the power projects to be funded properly.

“The nature of power projects is such that designs and construction stages normally exceed 2 to 3 years and the whole project cycle can be up for 5 years conservatively from feasibility to detailed design and construction.

“The annual budget for projects in Nigeria comes with great deal of uncertainty in the allocation and amount thereby resulting in the following scenarios – Delayed Payment to contractors and consultants; Frequent project argumentation; Delayed completion and therefore utilization of the project; Late payment penalties,” he said.

In his reaction, the Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Engr. Akinniranye said he was elated that the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers completely understands the problems facing the power sector and assured the company will continue to encourage local contractors where they have the capacity, although, he observed that they have been cases where some local contractors have failed due to various reasons.