Ghana owes Nigeria Gas $100m

Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has revealed that the reason behind Ghana’s current power crisis is government’s failure to settle a $100 million debt owed the Nigerian Gas Company. The situation is making it difficult for Nigeria to supply gas to the country as it is supposed to.

He said so while delivering a speech at the Central University College’s Distinguished Speaker Series held in Accra to dissect Ghana’s economic chances as it seeks a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The untold story of the erratic gas supply from Nigeria is that Ghana owes Nigeria Gas $100 million. Nigeria Gas is therefore dragging its feet with regards to the supply of gas to Ghana while this amount is unpaid,” he said.

In November last year, the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) explained that the erratic power supply to consumers was as a result of the difficulty in getting gas from Nigeria. According to the power transmitter, the company was forced to cut down on supply by 74 megawatts, compounding an already terrible load shedding.

Government has also over the past months attributed this as one of the factors contributing to the load shedding in the country.

Bawumia also said that government owes the Volta River Authority (VRA) so much compromising the Authority’s balance sheet and its ability to import crude oil for the generation of power.

This has caused the VRA to overuse the Akosombo Dam 30 percent more than recommended since 2012, thereby causing the drop in the water levels of the dam, he said.