The Accord Party presidential candidate, Prof Christopher Imumolen, has decried the current status of power supply in Nigeria and proffered modules for the development of the sector.
To achieve desired power supply, the 38-year-old presidential hopeful said the power sector must be opened to local and international players.
Imumolen stated these during a media chat in Abuja, according to a statement made available to journalists on Thursday.
He noted that the sector’s current status of a stiffly regulated regime is not apt and the regulation is
He said more players are needed in the generation, transmission and distribution segments and that deregulation has to be ensured by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission.
He described as unfortunate the fact that Nigeria has only been able to cover 50% of the nation in terms of power supply since independence.
Condemning Nigeria’s low generation capacity which stands at a dangling 6,000 megawatts despite the investment of hundreds of billions of naira by successive governments, Imumolen wondered where the about 5 billion dollars generated as tariff annually go to.
He, therefore, decried the spate of corruption in Nigeria’s power sector and others, pointing out that for Nigeria to escape the abysmally low supply to homes and industries which stands at an average of 2 hours per day presently, corruption must be tactically killed.
The presidential hopeful also added that the business of energy generation, transmission and distribution must be entrusted to the hands of professionals who know the business and not to political acolytes or clients.
“For a remarkable impact and success to be recorded in the power sector, it must be handled with govt sincerity as a vital sector tightly hinged to national development.
“With adequate power supply, a palpable economic vibrancy will be injected into the economy and Large, Small and Medium Enterprises will boom,” the statement quoted him as saying.
Imumolen emphasised the urgent need for a more friendly investment atmosphere in the power sector that will be attractive to players who will make power stable in Nigeria.
He described as “disgraceful” Nigeria’s inability to provide adequate power for its citizens since 1960, saying that Nigeria can only attain overall productivity, prosperity and development when power sectors thrive.
