Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Power have called for co-operation among stakeholders in the power sector and communities hosting NIPP facilities in the country to ensure desirable success in execution of projects in that sector.
Governor Ugwuanyi who hosted members of the federal House committee at the Government House, Enugu had shortly before their arrival inaugurated a 12-man committee to handle the issue of the stalled execution of the New Haven to Nsukka NIPP project in the state which has been a source of worry to the state government.
Former minister of information, Chief Nnia Nwodo heads the state committee while former minister of power, Prof. Barth Nnaji is among the professionals and high profile personalities that make up the committee.
During the courtesy call at the Government House, chairman of the House Committee, Rt. Hon. Dan Asuquo and the governor underscored the need to clear all hurdles that would militate against the smooth delivery of projects being executed by the Transition Company of Nigeria whose managing director, Onyeka Uwa, an engineer, was also in the delegation.
Addressing the lawmakers and other members of the delegation who were in Enugu for a public forum on the operations of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Governor Ugwuanyi commended the federal government for the current noticeable improvement in electricity power supply in parts of the country.
On the conduct of public forum on issues of billing, metering and the various bottlenecks arising from dealing with host communities, the governor stated that exercise which is part of their oversight function was fundamental in achieving enhanced power supply and the expected spiral effect of improved standard of living for the citizenry.
The governor spoke more on the import of stable power supply: “our struggle as a nation to achieve regular and dependable power supply has been long aborted and I must however, commend the federal government, the National Assembly and of course, the power companies for the noticeable improvement that has been recently observed in the sector.”
Observing that everything that relates to power always commands urgent attention, Governor Ugwuanyi charged the committee members to address
without delay complaints and out cries about billing method and other
malpractices by some power distribution companies as well as difficulties in accessing power, among other challenges.
Asuquo, chairman of the House committee told the governor that their mission included a public forum where interested members of the public have the opportunity to interact and brainstorm with the House Committee members with a view of proffering lasting solutions to their power challenges.
He commended Governor Ugwuanyi for what he described as landmark achievements in the areas of infrastructure development and provision of social facilities to the people of the state, urging him not to relent.
State deputy governor, Hon. Cecelia Ezeilo, had represented the governor during the inauguration of the state committee on actualization of the New Haven-Nsukka NIPP transmission project.
He explained that the measure was in line with his administration’s electoral promises aimed at creating new urban centres for the rapid development of rural areas of the state, saying the government desires
boosting power supply to Nsukka and all communities located along the power line from Enugu metropolis in order to stimulate socio-economic and industrial development in the affected areas.
He noted that, “Given its importance in the socio-economic development and empowerment of the people, power or electricity supply expectedly, remains a key component of the drive”.
According to him, “as we could not afford to allow this rare opportunity slip away from us nor could we allow the current situation to linger while our people continue to suffer, we decided to constitute this special committee comprising very eminent and knowledgeable citizens of Enugu state, to pursue and ensure the prompt actualization of the project following its terms of reference.”
Commending the committee members for their acceptance to participate, the governor charged them to liaise with interested parties including communities with a view to resolving all manners of disputes and litigations relating to the project as well as to ensure that the contractor returns and recommences work on the project immediately.
The Chairman of the committee, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, described their appointment as a call to duty and assured that he was, along with his colleagues, determined to meet public expectations through hard work.
