Atiku condemns blackout in north, demands electricity decentralization

Former Vice president Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the electricity blackout in the entire North-East, North-West and the North-Central regions of the country which has lasted the whole of one week with no immediate solution in sight.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election who raised the alarm in a statement shared on his X account, said it was embarrassing that most parts of the North will be in total darkness for so long and nothing is done about the situation.

Atiku, however, urged all the government departments responsible for addressing the problem to be quick in its intervention and restore electricity back to the distressed geopolitical zones.

“The electricity power crisis in Nigeria continues to be a matter of immense concern. In particular reference is the situations in both the Southeast and the entire states of the Northwest and Northeast that have been in complete blackouts in the past three weeks,” he wrote.

“Every government department responsible for addressing the problem must be quick in its intervention and restore electricity back to the distressed geopolitical zones.

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“Meanwhile, I still believe that my solution, as encapsulated in my Policy Document, ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’, remains the most proactive plan to lead our country out of perennial darkness. 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). I wish to restate my earlier recommendation to encourage 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,” he said.

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