The Chairman, House Committee on Power, Honourable Magaji Da’u Aliyu, alongside Honourable Nassir Ahmed Ali representing Nasarawa Federal Constituency and Ag. MD/CEO, TCN Engr. Dr. Sule Abdulaziz have inspected the ongoing construction work at 2x40MVA 132/33kV Transmission Substation in Walalambe, Kano State, to ascertain the progress of work in the Substation.

The Chairman expressed dissatisfaction with the level of progress of work since his last visit to the substation nine months ago, and sought to know the challenges that have delayed the timely completion of the project.

He reiterated the importance of the substation to Kano State as a whole when completed and called for the speedy completion of the project. Hon. Aliyu pledged his support to assist TCN in fast-tracking work on the substation, which may include assisting TCN engineers take over and complete the project. He restated the support of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration towards completing projects such as this across the country and assured TCN of National Assembly's support in such cases. 

In view of the importance of transmission line redundancy, Engr. Abdulaziz said that TCN has already directed two contractors to mobilize to site to commence the reconstruction of the towers and 330kV line.In his response, the Ag MD/CEO, TCN, Engr. Dr. Sule Abdulaziz, revealed that work on the substation was stalled by the contractor, and lack of funds, until recently when TCN Management reviewed the contract. He explained that the new procurement process was almost completed and that within a fortnight, TCN would award the completion of this substation to another contractor. According to him, we have already done pre-procurement, we have about 120 contractors that were pre-qualified; once the procurement process is completed, we will re-award the contract”, he said.

The MD/CEO said that the alternative for TCN was to obtain approval for funds from the Service Level Agreement (SLA), which is an interface between the Transmission Company and the DisCos, especially as the substation has been listed among the projects to be addressed under SLA.   

He then appealed to the law makers to liaise with the distribution company supplying the area to make provision for new feeders as the area has become densely populated. “This area is highly built so getting the feeders out after the completion of the project is another challenge. At the time we acquired the land in 2005, all these houses were not built. The distribution company will also have to figure out how they are going to radiate their feeders from this station'', he said.

Speaking, Hon. Nassir Ahmed Ali, the Honourable member representing Nasarawa Federal Constituency where the project is located, commended Engr. Abdulaziz and his team for their efforts on the project, and noted that the speedy completion of the project will not only improve power supply, but also boost socio-economic activities in the area.

The completion of the 2X40MVA 132/330kV transmission substation is expected to boost electricity supply to communities such as Walalambe, Hotoro and parts of Katsina and Jigawa States.

The site visit was on Monday 18th, October 2021.

Ndidi Mbah GM, Public Affairs