X-raying Senator Nwoko, Okpai Power Plant And The Delta State Government

By Victory Oghene

Few days ago, distinguished Senator, Prince Chinedu Munir Nwoko popularly known as Ned Nwoko representing Delta North at the Upper Chamber had strongly implored the Delta State Government to pay more attention to the local electricity sector, leveraging on Okpai Power Plant to improve power supply for the benefit of Deltans and attract both local and foreign direct investments.He stressed the imperative of local access to power from the Okpai Power Plant, which, he noted, has not been of benefit to the host communities despite increased generation capacity.

The Senator who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Reparation and Repatriation, urged the Delta State Government to take charge of the state’s electricity sector to bolster power supply and improve local access to electricity. He believes state management will help fulfil the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed with oil companies for Corporate Social Responsibility projects and attract more investors to local power initiatives.

Nwoko harped on the intractable issue faced by the Ndokwa people, who have long generated power for the nation while experiencing inadequate electricity in their communities. He appealed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to ensure that captured power is redirected to benefit residents.

Recall that the senator had earlier collaborated with two major investors interested in collaborating with the Delta Government through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). He pointed out that states have successfully managed federal road projects to secure refunds and suggested that the electricity sector equally deserves such intervention.

Gloria Okolugbo, Nwoko’s Communication Team Leader, backed the senator’s admonition to the Delta State’s government . She noted that the state government intervention would transform Delta State’s economy, taking a swipe at recent online media reports that politicised discussions about the power plant, labelling them as speculative and uninformed.

Nwoko provided details about the Okpai Power Plant in Ndokwa East LGA, which has been operational since 2005 and has increased its capacity to 980 MW by March 2022. Despite this, host communities have not benefited from the generated power. He emphasised that the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005 entitles host communities to benefit from energy projects on their land.

The senator reiterated his call for the state government to facilitate access to power and implement the 132KVA Double Circuit transmission line intended for Ndokwa/Ukuani communities. He stressed that domesticating the Electricity Act 2023 would attract further investment, enable mini-grids, and support independent power projects for underserved areas in the state.

Nwoko concluded by urging cooperation and prioritisation of the issue, aiming for a significant improvement in local power supply without engaging in unnecessary controversy.But in what appears to be aversion to Nwoko’s advice , the state government has criticized the senator’s admonitory call on Delta State governor to intervene , labeling it diversionary and off the cuff.

Reacting to Nwoko, the Delta State government through the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Public Enlightenment (Projects and Policies), Mr, Olisa Ifeajika, urged Senator Nwoko to pursue the federal government for the completion of the Independent Power Plant in Okpai, Ndokwa East council area of Delta state, rather than coercing the state government to do so.

“We expected Senator Nwoko to fight at the national level and make the Federal Government get the project done and not to come to the state to coerce Governor Oborevwori to use state funds to complete the project” said Ifeajika.

He stated this at a news conference on Thursday in Asaba, Ifeajika asked Senator Nwoko to rather champion the reconstruction of federal roads that are in terrible conditions in his constituency, including the Onicha-Ugbo-Idumuje-Ugboko-Ewohinmi-Abuja road, which passes through his community (Idumuje-Ugboko) directly.

The vituperative response of the governor’s aide was a reaction Senator Nwoko who had earlier carpeted Governor Oborevwori for allegedly refusing to help actualise the step-down of the Okpai Power Plant on the ground that the state is passing through financial doldrums.

According to him, the reasons allegedly given by the governor that the state has no money because he is servicing the debt inherited from the immediate past administration were untenable.

However, Ifeajika, who said that Nigeria operates a three-tier government system with defined roles and functions, further urged Senator Nwoko to focus on the job of bringing democratic dividends from the Federal Government to his constituency, the reason why he was elected by the people.

Nwoko’s attempt to demonise Governor Oborevwori over the IPP Step-Down, a federal government project, was an unfortunate and deliberate intention to create unnecessary tension in the state, he stated.

According to him, “Nigeria’s Constitution operates three tiers of government, and we all know how government functions. At all levels, there is the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judiciary, and they complement each other to function well.

“As constituents of members of the National Assembly from the state, we look up to them to attract development in different dimensions from the Federal Government to the Constituencies.

“Senator Nwoko’s job, like those in the House of Assembly here in Delta, is to work closely with President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council to attract development to Delta North, and by extension, to the state.

“Members of the House of Assembly here are also expected to work closely with Governor Oborevwori to attract projects and dividends of democracy to their people, just as councillors are expected to work closely with Local Government Council Chairmen to attract projects to their various wards.

“The first phase of the IPP project in Okpai in Ndokwa East, whose work started in 2002, was inaugurated by then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, with the capacity to generate 480 megawatts of electricity.

“Senator Nwoko knows where the authority for power generation and distribution in the country lies. He knows that the national grid where generated electricity is warehoused and distributed is under federal control.

“He knew all these and found that there was a need to get the management of the IPP to meet an agreement that was reached before now so that the Okpai community and others around that area could have a step-down.”

The governor’s aide recalled that Senator Nwoko had on March 7, 2024, moved a motion on the floor of the Senate asking the IPP Joint Venture partners—the Federal Government, represented by NNPCL, Agip, and Conoco—to complete the step-down project.He disclosed that the motion also urged the Federal Government to investigate the delay in distributing 100 megawatts of electricity to Okpai and adjoining communities through the proposed step-down.

“The motion didn’t say that Delta State Government should carry out or complete the step-down. This is because the state government was not involved in any way.

“It did not also ask that the Delta State Government should be investigated for the delay in distributing the 100 megawatts of electricity from the IPP.

“Senator Nwoko knew where to situate the motion, and it was properly situated. We, therefore, find his utterances a bit uncharitable for him to begin to arm-twist Governor Oborevwori to pick the bill for the Okpai project, which was not in any way within the purview of the state government.

“Senator Nwoko is in Abuja to bring whatever is available there to Deltans. We see a situation where he was trying to coerce and stampede the governor as something akin to blackmail.

“It became more uncharitable when he said that the governor must bring out the money to pay the contractors upfront. This is very irregular,” he said.

But reacting to the unnecessary controversy , professor Adeagbon Moritiwon, a retired political science don stated that ‘’ What Nwoko said was in order and the reaction of the governor through his aide amounted to an overkill. After all, the senator is noted for championing the Okpai power plant, and if the state government joins hands with him to put pressure on the federal government the project will come on stream sooner than later.’’

A Deltan lawyer Ovie Darah in a chat with newsmen said ‘’ when will our politicians learn to play by the rule of politics, there are certain things that should not be politicized such as issues of infrastructural development. What Nwoko said was an advice to the governor, the only thing is that he made it public, but I can say that the governor’s response smacked of politics and is diversionary. Political actors should join hands together for the development of the nation.”

In his own reaction, Dr. Olufemi Omoyele, a public affairs analyst said he was appalled by the welter of hired hands vilifying Nwoko since he issued some statements in the residence of General Mike Ndubuisi( Rtd), concerning the Okpai IPP project, some mischievous persons have made it a duty to create Political capital out of it.

Omoyele noted that he believes the senator has strong attraction to his mandate , as Senator Nwoko himself noted in several fora that he takes his mandate very seriously. ‘’The Okpai IPP project which is being handled by Nigeria Agip oil ,NNPC, Conocophilips and EniPower has been a controversial project which has witnessed a lot of delays. The expansion plan for Okpai IPP was designed for an additional power generation provided by means of a combined cycle gas turbine plant with two gas turbine generators and one steam turbine generator located 60km south west from Onitsha in Delta State, close to the River Niger.That is why the senator is worried.

’’It must be noted that the approved expansion of the phase 2 of the Okpai IPP project to increase the plants existing power generating capacity of 480MV by a further 450 MV to provide a total 980 MV output into the National power supply grid has been concluded.

In view of the seriousness of the project in the eyes of Nwoko, the Senator had sometime this year paid a working visit to the Minister of Power of Power, Adebayo Adelabu and the Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Ahmed to find a quick way to fix this lingering Okpai IPP project. The Managing Director of TCN identified lack of funds as being the primary obstacle to the project completion for the benefit of Delta North people.

For the past 19 years since the Okpai power plant was commissioned, Senator Nwoko appears to be the first Senator from the district to spearhead a pragmatic approach towards the speedy implementation of the project to serve the people from Delta North.

It should be noted that as far back as 2005 , the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had commissioned the Okpai IPP and directed that the plant provide 50 megawatts of electricity to benefit the host communities within a 50- Kilometer radius from the project. Even this has not been complied with let alone implements 100 megawatts which should serve a larger number of communities in Delta North.

It is in realization that the Okpai IPP will serve more of the interest of Delta state that Senator Nwoko approached the Delta State government to fund and complete the project for use by Deltans.

There is nothing new in a state government funding a private or Federal Government project if it serves the interests of its citizens.