Mambila power project not in 2021 budget – Minister
By Tanko Mohammed
Nigeria’s finance minister Zainab Ahmed has explained that Mambila Power Project was not captured in the 2021 budget because the ministry of power had exceeded its budgetary envelope.
The Minister reported during a budget defence session with the House of Representatives Committee on Finance.
She said the Mambila Power Project was not removed from the budget of the Ministry of Power but it was not prioritised by the Ministry of Power when it submitted its 2021 budget.
Ahmed explained further that the Ministry of Power exceeded the available envelope for its budget.
She explains that ministries are given a budget envelope within which to prepare their budgets and only priority projects are adopted.
The Senate had earlier expressed displeasure when it discovered that the much talked about Mambila Power Project was not captured by the Federal Government in the 2021 Budget.
This was after the Minister of Power, Mamman Sale, appeared before the Senate Committee on Power for the 2021 budget defence session of the ministry and its agencies.
The Mambila Power Project was designed to help improve power generation and supply in Nigeria. The hydropower project has a generation capacity of 3,050 Mega Watt (MG), when completed.