Nigeria's power supply up 'after Delta amnesty'

LAGOS – The absence of strife in the oil-rich Niger Delta has led to an increase in Nigeria's electricity supply because gas supplies to power plants have increased, a company spokeswoman said Thursday.

"Power supply is now 3,330 megawatts and we hope to increase it to 3,500 megawatts by next week," Efuru Igbo of the state-run Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) told AFP.

These 3,300 megawatts for a population of more than 140 million people still remain extremely low, compared to the 43,000 megawatts produced by South Africa for a population a third the size of Nigeria's.

Five months ago, national power supply was a paltry 1,400 MW, which was far from adequate for Africa's most populous nation.

Igbo said the past few weeks have seen an improvement in supply of gas to power plants across the country as a result of an end to violence in the Niger Delta, following an amnesty deal proposed by President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Movements active in the Niger Delta have for years attacked oil pipelines and other installations, claiming to represent the interests of the people in the southern region who do not benefit from the oil income.

In June, President Umaru Yar'Adua decided to offer an amnesty which saw thousands surrender their arms.

The main rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, declared an indefinite ceasefire on October 25 to allow talks to go ahead with the government.

At the peak of the unrest, Nigeria, the world's eighth largest exporter of crude, saw its oil output slashed by a third.

Nigeria's power production dropped to 1,400 MW in June after unidentified attackers blew up a pipeline in the southern oil city of Warri, disrupting gas supply to the Nigerian Gas Company, which supplies PHCN.

Businesses run mainly on diesel-powered generators while most Nigerians go for days, even weeks, without power.

Critics are saying that a government plan to raise power supply to 10,000 megawatts by the end of December is unrealistic.