THE UTOROGU POWER PROJECT: A MONUMENTAL FAILURE AND DECEPTION OF GAS-HOST COMMUNITIES

-By Zik Gbemre

The ongoing attempt by the Utorogu PGMoU Committee to justify the abysmal state of the so-called "independent power project" for Otor-Udu, Otughievwen, and Iwhrekan is not just an insult to our collective intelligence it is a reckless betrayal of trust. While the committee parades photographs of gates and perimeter fences as signs of progress, the reality on the ground remains unchanged: the project is an absolute failure.

Up till now, our people remain in total darkness. The host communities do not need endless storytelling, public relations posturing, or photo opportunities of empty premises. We need uninterrupted power supply.

The Irony of Lighting the Nation While Living in Darkness
It is a bitter irony that the three host communities housing the Utorogu Gas Plant
one of the largest onshore gas facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa are left to grope in the dark.

The non-associated gas extracted from beneath our ancestral soil powers critical infrastructure, industrial hubs, and national energy networks across Nigeria and West Africa, including:

* The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project.
* The Egbin Power Station (Lagos).
* The West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) Project (supplying gas across West African sub-regions).
* Industrial and Commercial Hubs in Lagos and Ota, Ogun States.
* Geregu Power Plant, Ughelli Power Station, and Various Industrial Plants Across the Nation.
Our land fuels the engines of national economic growth and powers millions of homes and factories across West Africa, yet the very communities bearing the environmental and social burdens of this extraction are denied basic electricity.

A Engineering Bait-and-Switch
From inception, the demand of the Otor-Udu, Otughievwen, and Iwhrekan communities was clear and non-negotiable: a dedicated turbine power plant capable of delivering a continuous, uninterrupted 24-hour electricity supply.

Instead, the project handlers delivered gas generators that lack the capacity, durability, and redundancy required to power three major communities.

*1. Failure of Capacity : Gas generators are temporary stopgaps, not industrial workhorses designed for continuous heavy-duty output like power turbines.
*2. Zero Redundancy : In power engineering, "uninterrupted power" requires redundancy meaning backup generation units. By delivering a single-source generator system without a backup, the committee guaranteed that the slightest mechanical defect would plunge all three communities back into darkness.
The Secrecy of Governance and Mismanaged Trust
Development cannot be conducted like a secret society. The Utorogu PGMoU Committee operated without genuine consultation with local stakeholders or community leaders. This lack of transparency explains how host communities sitting atop massive gas reserves ended up with a flawed project that imposes permanent financial liabilities.

Let us set the record straight: we never asked for money to be wasted on "overhauling" or patching up these failing generators. To do so is to throw good money after bad.

Non-Negotiable Demands for Moving Forward
To address this monumental failure, the following actions must be taken immediately:

* Delivery of Uninterrupted Power : Stop the excuses and replace the substandard setup with a proper turbine-driven power infrastructure backed by adequate redundancy.
* Independent Oversight : Re-establish strict monitoring and evaluation protocols with external oversight to ensure transparency and compliance with original engineering specifications.
* Full Accountability & Investigation : Anti-graft agencies including the EFCC, the Nigerian Police, and the DSS must investigate the disbursement and utilization of funds allocated for this project.
* Competent Technical Management : Management of future power projects and facility expansions in OML 34 should be handled directly by competent, technically proven operators like ND Western Ltd, rather than opaque committees that prioritize procurement over performance.
Two years is more than enough time to construct and commission a functional, high-capacity power plant. We cannot continue to blame distant authorities when local committees and representatives fail to deliver on basic obligations.

The era of excuses and storytelling is over. The host communities of Utorogu fuel the nation; we deserve nothing less than the uninterrupted power supply we were promised.

Zik Gbemre
September 1,2026

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