Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has proffered a solution to the frequent collapse of the national grid in Nigeria.
Atiku proffered the solution on Saturday evening via a post he shared on his official X account, lamenting the electricity power crisis in Nigeria, saying it continues to be a matter of immense concern.
He particularly made reference to 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.
The former VP said every government department responsible for addressing the problem must be quick in its intervention and restore electricity back to the distressed geopolitical zones.
Atiku thereafter spoke about what he believes would bring about a permanent end to the persistent collapse of the national grid in Nigeria.
“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,” he stated.
“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.”
Atiku said even as Nigeria focuses 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, he said the strategy to be adopted should be a viable mix of renewable (hydro, solar, wind and biofuels) and non-renewable (coal, gas).
The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 presidential election also implored private investors to play a part in improving Nigeria’s electricity.
“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,” Atiku concluded.
