The Siemens gas deal between Nigeria and Germany will lead to improved electricity supply to Nigerians in the first half of 2024, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Amb Maitama Tuggar.
Tuggar spoke virtually from Berlin, Germany to Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Tuesday.
“In the coming year by the first half of next year (2024), there will be a remarkable improvement in the electricity supply in Nigeria,” he said, adding that the setbacks experienced in the past would be managed by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2018 promised to expand Nigeria’s electricity capacity which is currently at 4,000 megawatts to 25,000mw by 2025 when he inked a deal with Siemens Energy in Germany under the Presidential Power Initiative but the project has not been actualised.
However, the minister, who is part of the President’s team at the G20 Compact with Africa Economic Conference in Germany, said the Siemens deal is “fully back”.
Tuggar said the gas deal between Nigeria and Germany is a win-win. He said, “The fact that we are exporting gas to Germany or we intend to do that does not mean that we are depriving Nigeria’s domestic gas needs; that will be fulfilled as well but you also need the revenue that would accrue from such exports to invest further in taking electricity and gas to other parts of Nigeria. So, it’s all interconnected and one does not stop the other from happening.”
The minister further said electricity supply would improve with the completion of the ongoing AKK project – the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano project.