President Muhammadu Buhari has given a directive that the project to establish a world-class transformer production plant in Nigeria in collaboration with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) of China be fast-tracked to accelerate stable power supply in the country.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Prof Mohammad Sani Haruna, disclosed this yesterday after briefing the president at the presidential villa, Abuja, on the agency’s third-quarter report.

Prof Haruna, who noted that the project for the establishment of the transformer manufacturing plant in the country was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic in China, said that Buhari who doubled as chairman of the governing board of NASENI “is anxious to see the output of this product, its impact on the availability of power because our power supply will never be stable until we produce some components locally, including transformers.”

He said the plant when established would produce between 6.5 and 10 megawatts of transformers of all sizes and different capacities to meet local demand and Nigerian standards.

On revenue generation, he said Nigeria had received requests from Uganda, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire for the supply of school laboratory equipment, adding that payments for such supplies went directly to the consolidated revenue account.

On collaboration with state governors, the NASENI boss said the agency worked with state governments, adding that he briefed them at a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on its activities.

Haruna further said that almost all the states had asked NASENI to repair their grounded tractors.