We’ve Averted Looming Dumsor- Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama says the looming power outages that reared its head ahead of the clean-up and maintenance by the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) have been averted by his government.

This, he said, has been done through “determined efforts” by his administration.

“The previous government did not work to ensure the smooth running of the energy sector by neglecting to arrange enough fuel to power our thermal plants,” President Mahama said at the swearing-in of six of his Ministers.

“Through determined efforts, I can report that we have now averted the looming threat of power outages and have begun delivering fuel to the thermal plants in the east, in advance of the shutdown of the West African Gas Pipeline,” the President added as he commended the new Energy Minister, John Jinapor for leading the resolution.

On January 7, Jinapor sounded an alarm about a looming energy crisis as a result of a depleted national fuel for power generation ahead of a crucial WAPCo gas supply pipeline maintenance.

Last week, WAPCo announced plans to reschedule a planned offshore pipeline cleaning and inspection exercise known as “pigging” to February from January 20, 2025, to “better accommodate the interests of key stakeholders”.

When it begins in February, it will run till March 2, 2025, focusing on the offshore section of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), stretching from Badagry in Lagos State in Nigeria to Takoradi in the Western Region in Ghana.

According to WAPCo, the four-week exercise will involve the temporary suspension of reverse gas flow from Ghana’s Western Region to Tema also in Ghana, and the shutdown of key facilities in Tema, in Lome, Togo and in Cotonou, Benin.

The statement from the President indicates that the country is in a better position for the exercise.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini