Director-General, Energy Commission of Nigeria, Mustafa Abdullahi, says Nigeria shares six per cent of her hydro power with close neighbours, Benin Republic, for strategic despite grappling to hit 6000MW.
Abdullahi, who spoke on Channels TV, on Saturday, said the move is strategic, as most of the hydro systems belonging to Nigeria are within the South-West and the riverine South-South zone.
The ECN boss said, “We’re not doing it to sell, but it is strategic and it’s also economically driven.
“We’re a giant of Africa. We cannot share rivers and waterways with a country and not give them electricity out of goodwill.
“If you look at our waterways, we have border countries like the Benin Republic. Also, most of our energy generation is from gas production in the Niger Delta.
“So, because our plants are mainly situated in these water areas, we need to share whatever we’re producing from any stream.
“There was a time when the Benin Republic threatened to situate a dam close to the Nigerian dam.
“So, we had to negotiate with them because if you put two dams at the same location, it will cause a big disturbance, and we will not be able to get anything from there. So, this is the reason we give some countries our electricity.
“Interestingly, it is a strategic one. It will interest us to know that it’s only about 6% of what we generate that we give Benin Republic. That is because it is coming from the dam, hydro production. The reason we have to do that is that the border system is strategic.”
He said at present, out of 230million to 240 million Nigerians, only about 85 million Nigerians lacked access to electricity supply.
The Minister added, “That’s a lot, but 60 per cent of Nigerians have access to electricity. Our electricity generation used to be 4,000MW before 2023, but right now, we are generating, transmitting, and distributing 6,000MW to households.
“That’s 2,000 more megawatts than we used to have two years ago. Yes, we’re not there yet, but our policies and vision will get us there.”
