Ghana seeks Nigeria’s assistance on damaged gas pipeline

Ghana's President John Mahama Wednesday, urged his Nigerian counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan, to facilitate prompt rehabilitation of the West Africa Gas Pipeline for electricity generation in his country.

Mahama made the call when he paid a short visit to Jonathan at the State House in Abuja.

The Ghanaian government has been trying to fix the damaged gas pipeline for some months without success. The gas pipeline damaged in October, sequel to a fatal accident during the re-commissioning of the Takoradi Regulating and Metering Station in Ghana, after repair work was completed.

The West Africa Pipeline Company (WAPCo) shut-down its $1 billion pipelines following loss of pressure around the Lome segment in Togo, as a result of the damage caused by an unidentified vessel which came under fire from a Togolese naval ship few months ago.

WAPCo subsequently stopped all gas deliveries to its onshore stations and was working closely with government agencies and other relevant organisations to investigate the cause of loss of pressure and ensure safety while rectifying the situation.

The stoppage of gas deliveries to power stations affected service delivery at the generation, supply and distribution of electricity services in Ghana; hence, the current load shedding exercise in some parts of the country.

Addressing State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting, Mahama said he was on his way to Equatorial Guinea for the Conference of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.

He said:  “As you know, Ghana has been the chair of ACP since 2008 and we are supposed to be handing over to Equatorial Guinea.

“And so, en-route, I decided to pass through Abuja to pay my respect to President Goodluck Jonathan considering the relations between Ghana and Nigeria.

“I took the opportunity of the visit to discuss with him (Jonathan) the issue of West Africa Gas Pipeline. As you are aware, it got broken and there was an accident when they were trying to activate it.

“So, I want President Jonathan to use his influence to get the pipeline back into operation as soon as possible so that Ghana can continue to receive Nigerian gas to power our electricity generation.’’

Mahama, who was declared winner of the last Friday’s Presidential elections in Ghana, said that his visit to Nigeria immediately after his victory at the polls was  “significant’’.

The Ghanaian president said he was also in the country to condole with Jonathan on the death of his younger brother, Chief Meni Jonathan.

“After election, it is significant that this is the first country I should visit just to cement the relations between our two great countries.

“I am here to pay my respect to President Jonathan and my condolences on the loss of his younger brother. I should have attended the funeral, but we were at the height of our election so, it wasn’t possible.

“So, I came with the traditional drinks, as it is customary with Ghana and our contribution to the funeral, which I have presented to President Jonathan to be sent to the family back home,’’ he said.

 By Roseline Okere with agency report

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