Electricity: Atiku pledges to lead Nigeria out of darkness if elected president
The Presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has stated that one way by which he would fix electricity issues in Nigeria is to give states the power to generate, transmit and distribute electricity for themselves.
Atiku disclosed this in a statement on Thursday evening where he stated that if elected president in 2023, he would remove electricity production from the exclusive list and give it to states.
This comes as the Nigerian electricity workers had to end a strike that nearly crippled power this week.
Atiku said, “Having keenly observed developments in the power sector within the last 24 hours, I am again convinced that my solution to the electricity crisis, as encapsulated in my Policy Document, My Covenant with Nigerians, remains the most proactive plan to lead Nigeria out of 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.”
He stated that an industrial dispute with the FG in Abuja should not affect an industry in Lagos or a factory in Aba or Kano or even an average Nigerian who just wants to get home, watch the news and sleep under a ceiling fan.
Atiku added that his policy would aim at achieving greater coordination of investments in the entire electricity value chain. He said investments in additional generation capacity are futile without consideration for the complementary transmission and distribution infrastructure to wheel the additional energy.
The Nigerian Senate earlier this year, removed the power generation, transmission and distribution from the exclusive legislative list in the ongoing constitutional review exercise.
The members of the upper legislative chamber passed a bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to allow states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the National Grid and for related matters
Below is the full statement by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Having keenly observed developments in the power sector within the last 24 hours, I am again convinced that my solution to the electricity crisis, as encapsulated in my Policy Document, ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’, remains the most proactive plan to lead Nigeria out of 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.
Secondly, my 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.
In this regard, we shall incentivize private investors to invest in the development of multiple green-field mini-grid transmission systems to be looped into the super-grip in the medium to long term while allowing the Federal Government 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.
