FG to probe Ajaokuta Steel’s N33b electricity debt
THE Federal Government, yesterday, indicated plans to probe the N33 billion electricity bill incurred by the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited that eventually led to its disconnection from the national grid by the Transmission Company of Nigeria ( TCN).
Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, gave the hint after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
TCN announced the decision earlier in the week to disconnect the steel company over the debt owed to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc ( NBET) and service providers.
The N33,071,002,129.49 debt consists of N30,849,749,981.01 for energy and capacity delivered by NBET and N2,221,252,148.48 owed service providers.
Reacting to the development in a chat with reporters, the minister vowed that the matter would be investigated to unravel all circumstances.
Audu wondered why the company would accumulate such a huge energy debt when it is not operating at full capacity.
Noting the role of NBET in the disconnection, the minister hinted that the government would not allow its agency to hinder the effort to revive the steel company, which has not been in operation for about 45 years. He said: “So, if we as a government ministry and agency are working hard to revive Ajaokuta, we should not have another hand within the same government making things very difficult for us.
“And so, part of what we plan to do is to sit in the next few days to come up with a plan to put it back on the grid.”
Audu confirmed that his ministry has got the President’s nod to raise a committee to look for an appropriate site to set up a new steel plant in the country.
The minister recalled that the decision to establish the $ 5 billion plant was reached between the President and Jindal Steel of India on the sidelines of the last G20 summit. He added that representatives of Jindal Steel will soon arrive in Nigeria.