Mohammed Shosanya
Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu,has said that the task of fixing the ills in the nation’s power sector won’t be easy,but he’s determined to put the challenge behind him in order to stabilize the sector.
He disclosed this when he briefed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on how Nigeria can achieve uninterrupted power supply in the country.
In a tweet on Tuesday morning by the Minister, Chief Adelabu said he joined other Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the inaugural Federal Executive Council meeting (FEC) on Monday.
He said:”As Minister of Power, I am determined to succeed in the onerous task of nation building. We will not disappoint Nigerians, we will not disappoint Mr President in this task. We are not saying it would be easy, but we are determined to succeed with the Almighty God on our side”, promising that, “in the coming days and weeks, Nigerians will start to see the result of our efforts in the Power Ministry. It is a promise from me to all Nigerians”.
The Minister said he gave summary of the activity plans of the ministry with regards to “turning around its reputation in line with achieving its mandate of driving community and economic growth by driving policies and programs to ensure reliable and affordable electricity to Nigerians”, at the meeting.
He noted that so many investments have gone into all segments of the power sector value chain without commensurate results in terms of output to end consumers.
“Each of the segments from generation, transmission to distribution has its unique and peculiar issues, the solution of which have to be prioritised for households and businesses to have a quick relief after years of deprivation.
“We are currently analysing the issues, meeting the various stakeholders, and visiting sites to have a proper and unhindered understanding and unbiased diagnosis of the issues and proffer workable solutions, in the next few weeks, the master plan for turning around the power sector with deliverables bucketed into short, medium, and long term would be unfolded.
“This will be done in an elaborate press conference together with all industry stakeholders”.
He also revealed that as part of his contributions during the meeting as a finance expert, he made suggestions that would aid in addressing the ravaging inflation and exchange rate crisis, adding, “we are to work and collaborate with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, and the Central Bank of Nigeria”, towards finding lasting solutions to the problem.
He also visited a former Minister, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola who had once held forth in the Ministry of Power, “in continuation of my stakeholders’ consultation with unbiased, historical perspective to the power sector issues. It was a useful meeting with lots of revelation that will help us resolve the sectoral issues with workable solutions”.
Adelabu said the former Minister also promised to continue to support the Ministry of Power to achieve success, “in our new responsibilities”.
