I was involved in Geometric as private citizen, and as governor – Otti
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Below is the story of how Governor Alex Otti was involved in Geometric, both as a private citizen, and as governor.
The 181-megawatt Geometric Power plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout of Aba in Abia State was commissioned on Monday, February 26, 2024.
The Abia state governor said:
“In 2010, Prof. Barth Nnaji came to see me in First Bank, Lagos, where I served as an ED. He needed the support of the bank to complete the project, the funding of which had been unfortunately stopped two years before, by the bank that originally started the project.
This bank happened to be Diamond Bank. After securing approval for an $85m facility from First Bank of Nigeria, Geometric Power could not draw on the facility as it had become public knowledge that I was resuming as the Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank, shortly.
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As I resumed in Diamond on March 1, 2011, I put together a team that saw to the restructuring of the challenged facility and resumed funding of the project to completion. By the time I left Diamond, the three General Electric turbines and the 27km gas pipeline were in place.
A combination of factors including ownership tussle over the Aba ring fence, sale of the oil block where the feed gas was going to come from to a new investor, and additional funding challenges conspired to delay project delivery for close to 10 years.
On assumption of office May 29, 2023, my team and I quickly folded our sleeves and started working with Geometric to resolve the gas supply problem by directly interfacing with top management of NNPC and today we have gas flowing to the turbines. Just as recorded in Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to them that love God”. I’m therefore pleased that 14 years after, God arranged everything such that the final resolution of all the issues and the firing of the turbines would happen when He had handed over the mantle of stewardship to me. May His name be glorified!” – Dr. Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State.
