Ashiru: FG to Collaborate with Foreign Firms, Others to Address Epileptic Power Supply
Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
Worried by the epileptic power supply in the country, the federal government has concluded arrangements to collaborate with international, private and national agencies to improve power supply across the 36 states of the federation.
Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Oyelola Ashiru, disclosed this to journalists in Ilorin, Kwara state capital over the weekend, shorty after the committee’s oversight function to the National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), Ilorin office.
The lawmaker added that incidences of system collapse or grid failure recently experienced in the country were attributable to disruptions in power lines.
“I am not speaking for the power minister but some of these things we call grid collapses are mere disruptions along the power lines. Such disruptions will be corrected very quickly. The minister has been very prompt and proper. We are proud of him.
“He has shown results. Power sector is one of the greatest sectors in Nigeria. The problems cannot be solved in one day. I am proud to say we are moving forward very properly. I am sure if we continue like this, power problems will become a thing of the past.
“There are lots of interventions- private, national and international in the sector. Siemens of Germany is assisting very well. Rome was not built in a day. Nigeria’s power sector cannot be fixed in a day. In the recently passed 2025 budget, the nation voted a huge sum of money for the sector.
“We have been buffeted with a lot of issues and problems but the power ministry is preparing and prepared to make it a workable sector,” he stated.
Speaking on the over N54 trillion 2025 budget estimate recently passed by the National Assembly, Ashiru, an architect turned politician, said that Nigeria is not a rich country.
He said: “When you compare our budget with countries like Kenya, we are still below them. When you consider and compare our budget with a country like Brazil, which budget is 10 times above our budget. That is why the little we have we are pushing to the needy areas.”
He hailed N-HYPPADEC for impacting on the lives of people in the benefitting states.
Also speaking, the state Coordinator of the commission, Hajiya Hajara Ndamu said N-HYPPADEC had trained over 600 Youth in different skills in Kwara state under the youth transformation programme. She said the commission has provided various interventions in their catchment areas.
Ndamu added that the youth had been trained in about 32 trades and have been provided with startup kits.
