Obasanjo, Emefiele, others nominated for Nigeria power sector awards

Nominees have been announced for the Nigeria Power Sector Awards, an event instituted to celebrate organisations and individuals who have contributed to improvement, growth, innovation, and progress in the Nigerian electricity supply industry.

The organisers of the event disclosed that the inaugural edition of the Nigeria Power Sector Awards and the cocktail event will take place on Wednesday (today) at the Abuja International Conference Centre.

The keynote address to be delivered by Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State, will focus on the topic ‘The Future of the Nigerian Power Sector: Delivering a Reliable and Stable Power Sector for All Nigerians.’

The organiser said in a statement that it will recognise a few individuals for their immense contributions and achievements, including an award to the late Joseph Oyeyani Makoju, former chief executive officer of National Electric Power Authority, and special adviser on power to three presidents.

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According to a statement, the ‘Leadership and Excellence Award in the Power Sector’ will go to Ahmad Zakari, special adviser to the President on infrastructure, and the ‘Trailblazer Award in the Power Sector’ will be presented to Abubakar Aliyu, minister of power.

“Others include lifetime achievement awards to former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Godwin Emefiele; governor, Central Bank of Nigeria; Barth Nnaji, former minister of power and founder of Geometric Power Limited/Aba Power IPP; and Kola Adesina, executive director, Sahara Energy Group,” the statement said.

The nominees for the ‘Thermal Power Generation Company of the Year’ include, NAOC Okpai IPP, Azura Power West Africa, and Transcorp Power (Ughelli Power Station) while the ‘Hydroelectric Power Generation Company of the Year’ category has North South Power Company Limited (Kainji), Mainstream Energy Limited (Jebba), North-South Power Limited (Shiroro) and MABON Dadin-Kowa Hydro Dam as nominees.

The nominees for the ‘Electricity Distribution Company of the Year’ category are Ikeja Electric, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company.