Obasanjo commissions power line in Kano
By ADAMU ABDULLAHI

A MULTI-MILLION dollar 132KV double circuit transmission line for energy supply project has been commissioned in Kano by the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Commissioning the project, Chief Obasanjo said the project was designed to transform the lives of the people in the three states directly affected by the project.
President Obasanjo noted that the civilian administration in the country inherited a multiple of problems in the power sector, explaining that there were no investments or any effort to improve power supply and distribution prior to 1999 when the civilian administration came in the country.
He said his administration has built and commissioned 11 new power plants in the country, noting that the target is to provide additional 20,000 megawatts by 2015.
Chief Obasanjo further explained that by the commissioning of Kano-Dutse-Azare 132KV double circuit transmission lines and Dutse Azare 2x30/40MVA 132/33KV substation projects will surely guarantee quality electricity supply.
The president added that the project would go along way in accelerating socio-economic and infrastructural development of the three benefiting states of Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi.
President Obasanjo therefore challenged the organized private sector to join hands with his administration to complement its effort, saying that the federal government will provide the enabling environment for an accelerated economic growth.
Earlier, the minister of energy, Dr. Edmund Daukoru had said that the present administration has inherited the project which was earlier awarded at the cost of $75,358,138 in February 1999 and was reviewed downward to $51 million dollars in May 2001.
In their separate remarks, the Kano state governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and the Jigawa state acting governor, Alhaji Lawan Ya’u Roni urged the federal government to build new power plants in the North Western part of the country.
The Kano state governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekaau lamented that hundreds of industries have been closed down due to shortage of power supply to the state.
Governor Shekarau praised the effort of the federal government for executing the project, adding that it would contribute immensely toward boosting the economic potentials of the benefiting states.