I’ll address Nigeria’s electricity crisis, says Atiku

Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar has said he has the most proactive plan to address Nigeria’s electricity crisis.

The former vice president, in a statement on Thursday, said he would lead Nigeria out of darkness if elected as the country’s president in 2023.

Atiku said having keenly observed developments in the power sector, he was again convinced of his planned solution to the electricity crisis.

He said the solution as encapsulated in his Policy Document titled ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’, remains the most proactive plan to lead Nigeria out of darkness.

The PDP presidential candidate said his approach if elected as president, was 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.

He said, “An industrial dispute with the Federal Government 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.”

Atiku said the third solution would be that ahead of procuring additional generation, both transmission and distribution capacities would be enhanced with government and private sector support for investments.

The PDP candidate said he would encourage 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.

This, according to him, would be done while allowing the federal government to focus on policy, regulation and standardisation.

Atiku said his aspiration to be president was to protect the interest of the average Nigerian in all circumstances