Stakeholders urge FG to declare state of emergency in power sector
Stakeholders in the power sector have urged the federal government to declare an emergency in order to completely revamp the nation’s electrical generation, transmission, and distribution systems.
They made the call in Abuja at the Third edition of Civil Society Roundtable discussion with Stakeholders in the Power sector.
The stakeholders contended that the power industry was essential to the nation’s development and that a state of emergency was therefore urgently required.
Speaking to the stakeholders, comrade Ogakwu Dominic Ogakwu, president of the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG), said that despite the over $16 billion in investments made by prior administrations, Nigeria could only produce 5000 megawatts of electricity, far short of the over 11,000 megawatts currently required by consumers.
Comrade Ogakwu said: “Even more worrisome is our inability to equitably distribute our generated capacity while faced with a stark reality that productivity and industrialization of any nation is hinged on Power supply.”
He explained that the roundabout was to proffer solutions to the “critical challenges” of the power sector in the short term and suggest what could sustain the power supply in the long run.
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“The responsibility to get things right should not just rest on the regulator or electricity distribution companies alone, but civil society and electricity consumers must join hands to demand and direct the trajectory for improving service delivery as constitutionally required,” he advised
Declaring the event open, The Minister of power, Abubakar Aliyu revealed that government had initiated a series of reforms, including the vision 30-2030 and the strong desire to complete all the power projects across the country.
Represented by the director, Reform Coordination and service improvement in the Ministry, Titilayo Agbeyo, the Minister said government would continue to play it’s role in providing the enabling environment for stakeholders and investors.
Highpoints of the Roundtable included presentation of power sector documentary to the Stakeholders and certificate of performance to the Minister of power.
The event, which brought together hundreds of participants from across the country, had as its theme “Boosting Nigeria’s power sector performance for overall socio-economic development of the nation”.
Stakeholders urge FG to declare state of emergency in power sector
