Okwe Obi, Abuja
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said the implementation of the Strategic Rural Electrification Plan (SREP) was delayed for 10 years, leading to the setback in supplying rural communities with efficient power.
Fashola stated this, on Wednesday, when members of Gora community in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, led by Sarkin Gora, Alhaji Jafaru Adamu, paid him a courtesy call, in Abuja.
The minister, however, noted that although the present administration approved the SREP which has influenced accessing $200 million that would further enable the funding a pilot power project in 70 communities across five states of the nation.
While speaking on the purpose of their gathering, Fashola stated that Gora community is an example of what the Federal Government has done with off-grid power and the “members of Gora community are here to testify that our mini-grid regulation and off-grid policy is also working.”
“This power supply demonstrates that while we are working to fix the grid, more communities are getting power off the grid.
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“When we say that we are now generating 7000 power and we have distribution challenges, our work does not start and end on the grid because more communities are getting electricity off the grid.
“It is important to point out that when the Electric Sector Reform Act was passed in 2005, it stipulated very clearly that the Rural Electrification Strategy Implementation Plan must be developed and approved by the President within one year but that was not done until President Buhari was elected.
“So, this project has connected communities and it has connected them to electricity.
“Let them continue to reinvent their division but we are seeing practical examples of unity.
“Communities can also tell the truth from the lies that were taken to them when they didn’t have information,” he added.
Some of the villages impacted are Magoshi, Ango mashayii, Ango makeri, Sabon Gora, Ango Karra 1, Ango Karra 11, Ango Yerima, Ango Yato and Ango Pajepo.
Adamu, pleaded with the federal government to continue to assist the community especially in the area of road construction.
