The Managing Director of the National Hydroelectric Power Producing Area Development Commission, HYPPDEC, Abubakar Yelwa, has said the Federal Government owes power-generating companies N4 trillion.
The MD said the money has prevented the commission from meeting the communities’ financial obligations.
Yelwa made this known on Wednesday while fielding questions from newsmen during the flag-off ceremony for the distribution of power tillers, life jackets and relief materials in Niger State.
He disclosed that the commission, which has been at the forefront of addressing the suffering of communities affected by the Hydro Electricity Producing Companies, said the Federal Government has assured all that the money will be released to the commission.
“We are really committed, that is why you have seen these items to hand them over to these communities. Definitely, the purpose of establishing the HYPPDEC commission is to address the suffering of communities served by Hydro Electricity Producing companies, and these are some of the necessary interventions.
“But most importantly, there is the issue of economy, there is the issue of agricultural development, and the issue of infrastructural development that these communities are suffering from.
“The HYPPDEC commission, you are rightly aware, has started intervention in some of these items, but the level of intervention was minimal because of the financial impediment the commission is suffering from
“The major funder of the HYPPDEC communities should be the generating companies, and you are aware that the generating companies are being owed N4 trillion by the Federal Government, which the Federal Government has recently promised to do something about.
“We are hopeful that once that obligation is settled by the government to the generating companies, they will also offset their obligation to the commission. And once those obligations are settled, I assure you, we are going to sit down with the communities and we are going to find out what is relevant to it and try to intervention in that perspective,” Yelwa said.
The HYPPDEC Managing Director, who hailed the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, saying the commission remains inspired by the governor’s commitment to building a prosperous Niger State, noted that the vision aligns with Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which he said emphasises empowerment, agricultural productivity and community resilience.
He disclosed that the commission distributed 850 units of 13 HP Power Tillers, out of which 165 units were for Niger State, 4,000 Life Jackets, and a wide range of Relief Materials to the people of the state.
“The relief materials,which include a cash donation of ₦10 million, 500 bags of NPK fertilizer, 50 cartons of pesticides, and 100 cartons of herbicides, are meant to be distributed to the flood-affected communities in Mokwa and other LGAs, which experienced severe flooding when the Kainji Dam Management opened additional spillways during the dry season,” Yelwa said.
Bago and the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, were present during the flag-off of the distribution.
