7,000mw of electricity in 18 months,' Vice President says.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has revealed the plan of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to generate 7,000 megawatts of electricity within the next 18 months.

Osinbajo stated this at the presentation of a book titled ‘Nigeria: The Challenges of Growth and Development, an In-Depth Analysis by Experts’, at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan.

He said that the Federal Government is determined to solve the problem of power as it remains a major challenge confronting the present administration.

According to him, the most important part of the budget will focus on ensuring that the weak aspect of the power value chain is restored.

“Early in the life of this administration late last year and early this year, power generation was possibly at its best,” he said.

“Nigeria, for the first time was actually generating 5,000megawatts, which was the first time it will happen in the history of the country.

“On February 14, the Forcados Export Terminal was blown off, effectively ensuring that 40 percent of our gas that goes for power is no longer used for the purpose.

“This situation led to the immediate loss of 1,500 megawatts of power. It is our priority that the pipeline project is completed so that gas will be adequately supplied to the power plant.”

The Vice President further said that the Federal Government will begin the implementation of the 2016 budget in a few days time. He described the budget as the most ambitious in the history of the nation.

He said the 2016 budget is not just ambitious in size but also more in its broad range of fiscal policies.

“Our strategic implementation plan proposes 33 action points.

“The action points cut across six political ties of security, governance, economic diversification, power, road and rail, oil and gas, ease of investments and social investment,” he said.

Osinbajo said that 30 per cent of the budget will be going capital expenditure, which he said is three times higher than the last budget.

He the capital expenditure will cover several aspects of infrastructure, especially rail, road and power.