Jonathan not seeking N1.8bn to fund ghost projects in Bayelsa, says Bayelsa govt.

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Yenagoa—The Bayelsa State Government, yesterday, dismissed as misplaced, allegation that President Goodluck Jonathan was seeking N1.8billion to fund ghost projects in his home state.

President Goodluck Jonathan

The state government described the allegation, as not only mischievous and embarrassing to the collective sensibilities of Bayelsa State, but also aimed at furthering the smear campaign orchestrated by a group of persons against the President.
The government said its decision to seek Federal Government’s intervention was not only to avert the imminent collapse of the only transmission station serving the state, but also ensure that power allocated to the state was adequately evacuated and accounted for.
Addressing newsmen, the Special Adviser to the Bayelsa State Governor on Power, Engr. Olice Kemenanabo, flanked by the Commissioner for Energy, Mr Francis Ikio, said though the state was connected to the national grid through a 2X30/40 MVA transmission station at Gbarain in Yenagoa Local Government Area in 2006, “only parts of Yenagoa, Kaiama, Odi, Opokuma, Agudama and Tombia are the communities benefiting from the station.”
According to Kemenanabo, “this constrain has compelled every other local government area, but Yenagoa and a few communities in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area to depend on independently generated power. Indeed Sagbama, Ekeremor, Brass, Southern Ijaw, Nembe and Akassa are unconnected to the national grid.”
He said that apart from the  transmission in Gbraintoru that has become unstable due to overload, the transmission station was not accountable, as most of it were currently lost as heat because of the poor state of the distribution system occasioned by the rigidity of the network.
“The current situation is that the only 40 MVA transmission station is grossly inadequate and is under serious stress arising from overload even as the supply is limited to the state capital and few communities.
Indeed the station is at a brink of collapse and if urgent steps are not taken to upgrade it, there is imminent total outage in the state.
“Therefore, if the Federal Ministry of Power in their wisdom is proposing the upgrade of the existing station to 90MVA and a newspaper interprets it as Mr. President seeking N1.8billion to fund ghost projects in his home state as published online, then same is most unfortunate,” he said.
He noted that it was unfortunate that an entire state depends on a forced cooled single transmission station, whereas state capitals and even local government in most areas of the country have multiple transmission stations.
“In the interim, the quickest solution to avoid imminent power collapsed in the state is to reinforce the already unstable 2×30/40MVA, 132/33KV station with a bigger one to accommodate the additional load as well as the extensions that are yet to be linked.
I am glad the Federal Ministry of Power has graciously granted to do by upgrading the station to 90/95MVA,” he added.