The former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has called for quick intervention and restoration of electricity to the distressed geopolitical zones in complete blackouts in the past three weeks.
In a statement by the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku said the electricity power crisis in Nigeria continues to be a matter of immense concern in both the Southeast and the entire states of the Northwest and the Northeast.
He demanded that every government department responsible for addressing the problem must be quick in its intervention and restore electricity to the distressed geopolitical zones.
Atiku believes that his solution, as encapsulated in his Policy Document, ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’, remains the most proactive plan to lead the country out of perennial darkness.
Atiku noted that 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).
Atiku encourages 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.