By Folorunso Alagbede, Abuja
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has harped on the urgent need to remove the nation’s entire electricity value chain from the exclusive list and grant states the power to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity for themselves.
Atiku made the suggestion in a message on his Twitter handle at the weekend in Abuja.
The former Vice President reiterated his earlier recommendation to encourage private investors to invest in developing multiple green-field mini-grid transmission systems to be looped into the super-grid in the medium to long term.
The nation’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007 expressed the firm belief that an industrial dispute with the Federal Government in the nation’s capital should not affect industrial activities in any of the states or cities of the country.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 general election pointed out that even as the country focuses on investments in additional generation, there’s a compelling need for capacity for the complementary transmission and distribution infrastructure to transport the supplementary energy produced.
According to him, “The electricity power crisis in Nigeria continues to be a matter of immense concern.
“In particular reference is the situations in both the Southeast and the entire states of the Northwest and Northeast that have been in complete blackouts in the past three weeks.
“Every government department responsible for addressing the problem must be quick in its intervention and restore electricity back to the distressed geopolitical zones.
“Meanwhile, I still believe that my solution, as encapsulated in my Policy Document, ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’, remains the most proactive plan to lead our country out of perennial darkness.
“There is an urgent need to remove the entire electricity value chain from the exclusive list and grant states the power to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity for themselves.
“I firmly believe that an industrial dispute with the Federal Government in the nation’s capital should not affect industrial activities in any of the states or cities of the country.
“Even as we focus on investments in additional generation, there’s a compelling need for capacity for the complementary transmission and distribution infrastructure to transport the supplementary energy produced.
“Considering that energy opportunities exist in different parts of the country, our strategy should be a viable mix of renewable (hydro, solar, wind and biofuels) and non-renewable (coal, gas).
“I wish to restate my earlier recommendation to encourage private investors to invest in developing multiple green-field mini-grid transmission systems to be looped into the super-grid in the medium to long term”, he concluded.
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