Abubakar Atiku, Former Vice President, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate in the 2023 general election yesterday outlined how he will lead Nigeria out of its current electricity challenges.
Atiku also said that having keenly observed developments in the power sector, he was convinced that his solution to the electricity crisis as encapsulated in his policy document, ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’, remains the most proactive plan to lead Nigeria out of the darkness. “In this regard, my approach is to first remove the entire electricity value chain from the exclusive list and give states the power to generate, transmit and distribute electricity for themselves.
“An industrial dispute with the federal government in Abuja should not affect an industry in Lagos or a factory in Aba or in Kano or even an average Nigerian who just wants to get home, watch the news, and sleep under a ceiling fan,” he stated. The former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the main opposition party, PDP, reiterated that his policy shall aim at achieving greater coordination of investments in the entire electricity value chain.
“Investments in additional generation capacity are futile without consideration for the complementary transmission and distribution infrastructure to wheel the additional energy.
“Any investment in additional generation capacity would be competitively procured considering a viable mix of renewable (hydro, solar, wind and biofuels) and non-renewable (coal, gas) options for energy security. “Thirdly, ahead of procuring additional generation, both transmission and distribution capacities would be enhanced with government and private sector support for investments,” Atiku stated.
In this regard, the former vice president promised to incentivize private investment in the development of multiple greenfield mini-grid transmission systems to be looped into the super-grid in the medium to long term while allowing the federal government to focus on policy, regulation, and standardization.“My aspiration to be president is to protect the interest of the average Nigerian in all circumstances, and on this, I stand to say that I have no interest either directly or indirectly in any generator company, as has been publicly revealed,” he added.
Earlier, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) had announced the restoration of power supply in the South-east. The Head, of Corporate Communications of EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, disclosed that the restoration to parts of the region started at about 12.34 am.“Given the decision reached yesterday evening (August 17), at a meeting between the striking electricity employees and the ministers of labor and power, the strike by electricity workers has been suspended.
“Restoration of power supply commenced since 00.34 a.m. (on August 18) in parts of the South-east states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.“Though this has been gradual, it is hoped that before noon today (yesterday)(August 18) all EEDC outgoing feeders would have fully been restored,” he noted.
