HURIWA: N10bn Solar Project for Aso Rock is Proof of Collapse of Power Supply
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has described the decision by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to migrate the electricity power supply system in the Presidential Villa to Solar system as an admission of the inefficiency and incompetency of the Minister of Power.
The rights group also said the decision further signposted the “extremely unaffordable” costs of electricity power supply by the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the DISCOS.
In statement by the National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group said, “The reason of cost as a factor in deciding on this Solar power supply project shows that this federal government is aware that the costs passed on to the unfortunate citizens still hooked on to the National Grid by the sets of opportunistic entrepreneurs running the DISCOS, is not only unsustainable but fraudulent.’’
HURIWA recalled that the presidency had defended the controversial N10 billion solar power project proposed for the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, citing global best practices, including the use of solar energy at the White House in Washington D.C., United States.
Special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had Tuesday, shared a video clip of solar panels installed at the White House, noting that the Nigerian Presidency was only following the footsteps of developed nations in transitioning to renewable energy.
“The White House in Washington D.C. uses solar power,” Onanuga wrote in the caption accompanying the video posted on X.
HURIWA, however, agreed with the overwhelming public opinion that the selfish decision to spend a whooping sum of N10 billion of public money on solar infrastructure for a single location, the seat of government, sent the wrong signal in a country where millions live without access to reliable electricity.
HURIWA affirmed that there was logically no doubt that the Solar energy project for the Presidential villa in Abuja was a reflection of the general lack of commitment to fixing the national grid and improving power distribution nationwide.
It also described it as a direct official response to the fake propaganda that circulated from government circles that 150 million Nigerian households were now covered by electricity power supply from the national Grid.
“We in HURIWA can only be grateful to God that from the same lying government that circulated the misinformation that all is well with the power supply system through the National Grid has also come out to deflate and debunk the phantom story that 150 million Nigerian households now enjoy 24/7 electricity power supply,” it stated.
