Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu has urged State Governments to leverage the opportunities presented by the Electricity Act 2023 to invest in the value chain.
This, according to him, would not only improve the electricity supply in the states but would catalyse economic growth and overall development of the country.
TheFact Daily reports that the Electricity Act which was signed last year by President Bola Tinubu has liberalised the power sector in Nigeria, thus, offering the state governments the opportunity to generate, Transmit, and distribute their own electricity.
Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the Minister, in a statement on Friday said, Adelabu spoke
during a one-day working visit to Sokoto State, where he visited the recently completed 38 megawatts Independent Power Plant built by the State government and the Goronyo Dam, one of the dams being considered for power generation.
He expressed happiness about the initiative by the Sokoto State government and promised to ensure the take-off of the plant within the shortest possible time.
“I am happy to witness this kind of thing, an independent power plant project funded by the state govt. I am impressed. I am also happy that Sokoto state government is fast queuing keying into the renewed hope agenda of Mr President of giving a good life to Nigerian citizens. Good life in all ramifications. In education, health support, social infrastructure, and power. We know power is critical to the performance of any other sector. For the government of Sokoto state to have taken the pain to cross the hurdle, financial and otherwise to fund this kind of investment is commendable and I want to use Sokoto as a point of contact for other State governments”, he said.
According to Adelabu, Sokoto is already taking advantage of the Electricity Act of 2023 which is allowing sub-national governments to invest in the power sector value chain.
“Other state governments should emulate Sokoto state. We can have a functional, reliable, uninterrupted, affordable electricity supply for every Nigerian citizen if it is possible. And I am happy that the Sokoto state government is making our dream a reality. I want to thank the Governor for this investment. It must not fail. I promise you. We must get the dividends of this investment. It was built with tax payers money. They must enjoy their money. I am pledging that the federal government through the Ministry of Power and its agencies will provide every necessary support that is required to take this project to the desired destination. You have done over 95 percent of the work. Whatever is required of us, I am promising and pledging that we will not relent in supporting you to ensure that this project finally takes off and it supplies electricity to the seat of the caliphate, Sokoto State”, the Minister said.
The Minister has therefore invited all parties involved in the project to a meeting in his office to discuss the area of concern and the bottlenecks delaying the take-off of the plant.
“To ensure it is not all talks, I am using this opportunity to immediately call for an all-party meeting in my office within the next two weeks.
The meeting will include the project consultant, Mr Theo Ubani, the Commissioner for Energy, Sokoto State, Honourable Danusi Umar, Director of Distribution, Federal Ministry of Power, Engineer B. U Mustapha Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engineer Sule AbdulAziz, Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Alhaji Sanusi Garba, Managing Director of Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Engineer Tukur Aliyu and management of Kaduna distribution company. These are the people needed to make the project take off. Whatever hurdle that is delaying the take-off of the project must be resolved on that day”, the Minister said.
Adelabu also commended the State government for not only building the power plant but for also having the ancillary infrastructure in place.
“You have the switch yard, strategically placed. You also have a substation close by and there are also the 33KVA lines that are already there”, he said.
“The project Consultant had earlier briefed the Minister on the regulatory bottlenecks that have delayed the take-off of the projects with the assurance by the Minister that the issues would be resolved.
