Minister orders power agencies to improve electricity supply

The Minister of State for Power, Mr. Goddy Jedy-Agba, has ordered the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and two other agencies under his purview to immediately intensify effort to improve the power supply situation nationwide.

Mr. Jedy-Agba gave the charge when he briefed the press in Abuja on the activities of the agencies. He said improved power supply would enable businesses pick up and improve lives.

The minister said, “Businesses will grow up if they have light. So we need to step up our game and the essence of this interaction is for the media to assess whether we are succeeding at that.

“I feel that we should give those people (in rural areas) more than we give attention to ourselves in the city because you grow from down to up, and if we grow them, we will grow our nation.”

The Managing Director of REA, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, said over 80 million Nigerians lack access to power but investors like the World Bank had given $350 million, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) gave $200m to finance solar mini grid and other rural power projects.

For the World Bank projects, Salihijo said, “What REA is doing to see how we can cater to communities that are off the grid. As at 2019, it stood at 103,500 households, and I am sure it is more than that now, we will give you an update,” he noted.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Engr. Peter Ewesor, said the agency had inspected 5,652 power installations nationwide and over 65 percent had been certified fit for supplying electricity.