Sabotage, theft undermining power supply – Buhari

• President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said sabotage and theft of gas were undermining the efforts of the government to increase power supply in the country.

He made the remark during interaction with the Nigerian community in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

To check the trend, he said that existing military task-forces will be reorganized to ensure successful protection of the network of gas pipelines in the country.

Buhari, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, noted that sabotage of pipeline installations continues to be a problem despite improvement in power in the recent period.
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According to him, Nigeria has everything required to generate enough power.

“Power is a running battle because the saboteurs are still there. We have the potential. We have gas, we have qualified people but we are contending with a lot of saboteurs who go and blow up installations. When gas is pumped to Egbin and such other power stations, thieves and saboteurs such as the militants cut those supplies,” the President stated.

He also cited another factor as the reduced role of government in the sector due to the privatization of the institutions under the Power Handling Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the process in which, he said, the facilities “have been sold to several interest groups.”

He assured that the military task-forces with representation from the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Police and the secret services will be reconstituted to secure the pipelines.

“Supplies will become steady, there will be less sabotage as we secure the pipelines,” he added.

Source:Thenation