An X user, @Riddwane, has claimed that the Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, built an independent power plant during his tenure as the governor of Lagos State.
He made the claim while responding to a post by Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, who was lamenting the inadequate power supply in Nigeria.
The claim by the X user read:
“Bukola Saraki served as Kwara governor in the same dispensation you served; Saraki revived Ganmo Power Station. Tinubu, as Governor, built the Independent Power Project in Lagos. As a two-term Governor, can you tell us about any power project your administration achieved in Anambra?”
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The claim has generated over 430,000 views alongside more than 1,300 likes and over 500 reposts on X as of May 4, 2024.
Due to the virality, our fact-checker deemed it fit to look at the records to assess the veracity of the claim.
CLAIM
Tinubu’s administration built an independent power plant when he was Lagos State governor.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckhub show that the claim is TRUE.
Lagos State has several independent power projects which include AES barge Independent Power Plant, Lagos Island Power Project, Chevron Agura Power Plant in Ikorodu, Oando’s Power Plant in Akute and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Power Plant in Ikeja. The projects were aimed at augmenting Nigeria’s power generation capacity and providing power supply to Nigerians.
Checks by The FactCheckhub show that the AES barge Independent Power Plant (formerly Enron Nigeria Barge Power Plant) was initiated by Tinubu when he was the Lagos state governor between 1999 and 2007.
Tinubu-led Lagos State Government initiated a partnership with Enron Nigeria Power Holdings Ltd in 1999 to build an Independent Power Plant to initially generate 90MW of electricity for Lagos state. The AES, a global energy company, after acquiring a majority share in Enron Nigeria Power Holdings Ltd, later took over the contract between 2000 and 2001 to build an Independent Power Plant to generate 270MW for Lagos residents in an attempt to break the monopoly of the then National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). It will be recalled that NEPA later became Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
The AES barge located adjacent to the Egbin power station owned by the then NEPA consisted of nine barge-mounted combustion turbines with a combined generating capacity of 270MW.
Despite its ambitious goals and significant investment, a review of multiple media reports backed up by archivi.ng, a website that digitises old Nigerian newspapers, showed that the project encountered various challenges and controversies from its inception.
However, the power project ultimately saw some successes, with the AES Corporation acquiring a majority share in the project and overseeing its construction and operation.
The project commenced commercial operations in 2001, supplying close to 230 megawatts to the Egbin Thermal Station and contributing to the national electricity grid.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Tinubu’s administration built an independent power plant when he was Lagos State governor is TRUE; records showed that during his governorship tenure, Lagos State Government partnered with private investors to execute the AES power plant in Lagos.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
