NIPP transmission line delayed by ‘shrines’ in A/Ibom

Power operators have said the delay in completing the Calabar - Ikot Ekpene transmission line under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) is caused by ‘shrines’ encroachment in Akwa Ibom State.

A communiqué issued after the 7th sectorial meeting in Benin this week said the operators “ascribed the delay in the completion of the critical Calabar - Ikot-Ekpene transmission line and other projects in the South-east to unresolved local community issues especially in Itu Local Government saying it was “because of shrines” which were currently being aggressively addressed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Community (NDPHC).”

NDPHC former directors had in 2015 met with communities where the Right of Way (RoW) for the eastern corridor line had been secured from Calabar through Akwa Ibom to Enugu State.

The communiqué by Hakeem Bello, the spokesman to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, also said the Distribution companies (Discos) agreed to intensify efforts to complete Disco financed metering while winding down the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Initiative (CAPMI) scheme under which customers pay for meters.

It said the winding down of CAPMI is to ensure that customers did not unnecessarily bear the cost of installing meters. It also noted that consumers needed to be protected from estimated billing through Discos completing metering according to their submitted plans.