Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, has attested that no monetary contributions were made by the previous state administration to the recently inaugurated 188MW geometric power plant project in the state.
The governor made his remarks in a press conference on Tuesday at Government House, Umuahia, through Minister of Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr. Okey Kanu.
Kanu claims that some parties have maintained that the prior administration made investments for the state government’s use in the project.
Kanu asserted that the government relies on facts rather than conjecture, underscoring that no supporting documentation was provided to the new administration during the transition.
Speaking on this Mr Kanu said: “Geometric Power Plant is a private sector-led investment company and you don’t speak about things that don’t exist. “
“At the point of handover from the previous administration to this administration, I don’t think there is any existence of financial commitment on the part of the state in the Geometric Power Plant.”
“Like I said we don’t need to speak to something that doesn’t exist,” he went on to add.
The Special Advisor to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, on his part, described the government as an organization that follows certain protocols and maintains certain standards in its operations.
Ekeoma further stated that the current administration lacked documentation demonstrating the previous government’s financial commitment to the project.
“I’ve heard from the former government’s spokesperson that there was an agreement. Naturally, we’ve been informed that the state invested $5 million in geometric, giving them the chance to hold a 5% equity share.”
“On another occasion, a former information commissioner from the previous administration stated that only a portion of the total amount was paid.”
“The Chairman of Geometrics used that as the basis for his remarks from a few days ago. You would be able to claim the stated equity if you carried out your end of the bargain.”
“It indicates that such does not exist as long as we do not have any documents,” he continued.
He thought it would be a good thing to learn that the previous administration had given the government something significant.
“We are merely stating that we would require a document, not that we are discounting what the previous administration stated.”
“It is not appropriate to go to geometric and start claiming that you accomplished something when, in reality, you have nothing to show for it,” Ekeoma stated.
The News Chronicles recently provided an explanation of the importance of the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in Aba, Abia State, to the Southeast state’s energy industry.
It is also important to remember that the project’s first phase was finished in or around 2013. Nevertheless, the project ran into a number of obstacles, including political, legal, and regulatory problems, which weren’t overcome until 2022—during the Buhari government.
In that year, Geometric took over the Aba Electricity Ringfenced region from EEDC/Interstate Electrics/FGN with the help of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
One of its four General Electric brand turbines was supposed to start operating in September 2023.
