The presidency has again reeled out 28 pages of President Muhammadu Buhari’s strides in oil and gas reforms, digital economy, mines and steel development, agriculture, education, health, creative industry, sports and infrastructural development, including roads, bridges, rail, air and seaports, housing, etc.

Mr Buhari’s scorecard came amid the seventh anniversary of his beleaguered regime on May 29. On May 29, 2015, the president took the oath of office, promising to serve Nigeria faithfully in all spheres of national life.

His media aide Femi Adesina noted that Mr Buhari’s regime had delivered on its promises to Nigerians.

Since Nigeria’s independence, Buhari’s regime has witnessed the biggest and most ambitious federal infrastructure programme.

Regarding the National Mass Metering Programme, the Central Bank of Nigeria is providing N200 billion, and more than one million meters rolled out in the first phase, according to Mr Adesina. The first phase generated more than 10,000 new jobs in meter installation and assembly as the nationwide rollout of electricity meters to all on-grid consumers launched in August 2020.

The Solar Power Naija (SPN), launched in April 2021 to deliver five million off-grid solar connections, would impact more than 20 million Nigerians and is financed through Central Bank of Nigeria loans and partnerships with NDPHC, NNPC and the NSIA, the regime claimed. The programme would generate an additional N7 billion increase in tax revenues per annum and $10 million in annual import substitution, said Mr Adesina in his statement.

”Under Solar Power Naija and NDPHC’s partnership, ASolar is rolling out 100,000 Solar Home Systems across the country, while the NSIA (partnering under SPN) has announced a N10 billion fund for developers, targeting more than 250,000 solar connections,” the presidency statement noted.

In May 2021, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) announced the planned deployment of solar-powered grids to 200 Primary Health Centres (PHC) and 104 Unity Schools nationwide.

Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) is a $550 million programme implemented by the government in partnership with the World Bank and African Development Bank. NEP is a combination of subsidies, direct contracts and technical assistance to support Electrification across Nigeria.

According to the regime’s statement, NEP deployed more than 20,000 Standalone Solar Systems (SHS) and Solar Hybrid Mini-grids in more than 250 locations across the country. The Rural Electrification Fund (REF), created by the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005, was operationalised by the Buhari Administration in 2016.

Since 2016, the REF under REA has executed more than N4 billion in projects, with more than N5 billion of Off-Grid (mainly Solar) projects slated to be executed across Nigeria in 2022. On the special grid interventions, Mr Adesina claimed the regime had many key grid initiatives with more than N125.2 billion budgeted between 2015 to 2021 for TCN and Development Finance Funding through World Bank, AFDB, AFD, JICA and others of up to $1.7 billion.

The statement disclosed that the CBN provided $250 million to rehabilitate critical interfaces between Transmission and Distribution to increase and stabilize power delivery. Through the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), an additional $2.0 billion or more will be invested in the Transmission Grid.

The contract for the pre-engineering phase of the PPI was signed in February 2021, following the 2020 approval for the payment of the regime’s counterpart funding for that phase, while the first set of equipment contract awards was reportedly made in December 2021.

The regime also claimed Mr Buhari recorded “tremendous success” in the housing sector through the housing and works ministry, completed or “is completing housing projects in 34 States of Nigeria, under the National Housing Programme.” So far, more than 5,000 houses are at various stages of completion, and thousands more are planned.

The Family Homes Fund Limited (FHFL), incorporated by Mr Buhari in September 2016, Mr Adesina further claimed, completed more than 13,000 homes across nine states, with another 20,000 commencing building works in 2022.

According to the statement, these housing developments have created more than 64,000 direct and indirect jobs. The regime also claimed it “achieved a lot in the area of digital economy and these include the extension of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) ‘Pioneer Status’ to e-Commerce and software development companies.”

“Stipulation of N145 per linear meter cap on Highway Right of Way (RoW) for fibre optic cabling, to incentivize investment in rollout. Launch of new national 5G policy in 2021, and successful licensing of two private companies to rollout 5G nationally. Nigeria’s 5G rollout will commence in August 2022,” said the presidency’s statement.

It added, “Ongoing implementation, starting 2021, of the National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Backbone Phase 2 (NICTIB-2) Project. The goal of NICTIB is to roll out a nationwide fibre infrastructure network. Ongoing construction of a Tier-4 Data Centre in Kano, to join existing infrastructure in Abuja (Tier-3 Data Centre) and Enugu (a disaster recovery site). The Kano Data Centre is expected to be completed in 2022.”

The major achievements of Mr Buhari’s regime in oil and gas, according to Mr Adesina, include the president’s assent to the Petroleum Industry Act on August 16, 2021.

(NAN)