Reps Committee supports NDPHC move to revive abandoned Ikot Ekpene–Ikot Abasi power line

By Onu Okorie

House of Representatives Committee on Public Assets has pledged to work with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to get the long-abandoned 330kV Double Circuit Ikot Ekpene–Ikot Abasi Transmission Line Project back on track, after touring the site and meeting with community leaders, the project contractor and NDPHC officials.

The transmission line, known as Lot 18T, has sat unfinished for more than six years, delayed by funding gaps and unresolved compensation disputes with local landowners.

Committee chairman Hon. Ademorin Kuye led the inspection, which also included Hon. Tunji Akinosi, Hon. Jaafaru Yakubu and Hon. Patrick Umoh. The lawmakers walked the site, reviewed how much work had been completed, and held talks with the engineering, procurement and construction contractor, Anita Energy, along with NDPHC representatives and community leaders.

Kuye said the visit was part of a broader investigation by the committee into abandoned federal government assets, aimed at ensuring public money isn’t wasted. He noted that the committee had found several such projects sitting idle despite significant investment, and set out to determine why — and whether they could be revived.

Both NDPHC and the contractor, he said, have signalled they are ready to resume work once the outstanding issues are resolved. Kuye described the project as important not just for the communities hosting it, but for the wider economy of Akwa Ibom State and the country as a whole. Completing it, he said, would strengthen electricity supply, support local businesses and farmers, improve security, and drive broader economic development in the area.

Kuye also praised residents for protecting equipment left at the site during the years of inactivity. Committee members had gone to verify reports that construction materials — including wires and transmission towers — remained on the ground, and found them intact.

The chairman called on NDPHC to speed up outstanding compensation payments to affected landowners, noting that while some payments had already been made, the remaining balance needs to be settled before the community will allow the contractor back on site. He assured residents that the National Assembly would work with the federal government, the Akwa Ibom State government and local authorities to clear the remaining obstacles and get the project delivered.

Speaking earlier at the site, the Village Head of Adiasim Ikot in Essien Udim Local Government Area, Chief Joseph Gall Udo, said the contractor had walked away from the project more than six years ago. He appealed to the federal government and NDPHC to resolve the compensation issue, stressing that residents had kept watch over the equipment and materials left behind in the hope that work would eventually resume.

Once completed, the 330kV line is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s national grid by evacuating power from Niger Delta plants and improving electricity supply to industries and households across Akwa Ibom State and neighbouring areas.