Against the backdrop of the strike saga which involved the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has vowed to lead Nigeria out of the darkness if they elect him as their President in 2023.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that the union’s strike which was happened on Wednesday left Nigeria in darkness for over 12 hours after it shut down power stations over welfare issues.
However, NUEE after its meeting with the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige suspended the strike for two weeks.
Atiku in a statement on his verified Facebook page, Thursday declared that he has no interest either directly or indirectly in any generator company.
Having keenly monitored and observed developments in the power sector within the last 24 hours, Atiku said his Policy Document titled ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’ remains the most proactive plan to lead Nigeria out of darkness.
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He stated, ‘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 FG 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’.
The former Vice President said before 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 FG focus on policy, regulation, and standardization,’ he started.
He assured that his aspiration to be President is to protect the interest of the average Nigerian in all circumstances.
