The planned takeover of Aba ring-fence by Geometric Power Limited, promoter of the independent power plant in Osisioma area of Aba, will stimulate industrialisation in the entire South-East region and Nigeria at large.
Andy Ubah Obasi, president, Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ACCIMA), made the observation in an interview with BusinessDay in Aba.
According to Obasi, “The feeling of the business community is that this is long overdue. Most people know how useful and beneficial power is to industrialisation. Geometric has always been there for the past seven years and the business community has being anxiously waiting for this and we anxiously and graciously hope that it happens this time.”
On how Geometric can be marketed in the midst of other alternative sources that has sprung out within these long years of legal tussle to take over Aba ring fence, Obasi noted that it will be left for Geometric to show the Aba business community what they have to offer.
“If not for the issue that came up between EEDC and Geometric, there wouldn’t have been vacuum for people to seek alternative sources of power. But I believe that if Geometric comes on, the burden will be on Geometric to show us what they have.
“If they show us what they have and the evidence is there that they have more reliable power and the tariff is also good, so many people will switch to their system. It is very difficult to walk up to someone and ask him to change from what he is used to without authentic and concrete evidence.
“Our job as Aba Chamber of Commerce is to gather all the facts and present it to the business community and they in turn make their decisions. We can’t force anybody on what to do.
The ACCIMA president advised the Aba business community and everyone else to come out and give the company adequate support so as to meet the commencement date.
“My advice to everyone is that we should stop being a party to pointing fingers, we should make a very conscious effort towards solving a problem.
“So, as Geometric is coming in, we all should come out and give them adequate support so that the take off time will be realized. I’m sure that as they come in there’s going to be some requirements and some things they expect from consumers.
“It could be in form of documentation. So, we should all come out honestly and give them that adequate support”.
Recall that Bart Nnaji, a professor and chairman/CEO of Geometric Power Limited, was at ACCIMA secretariat recently to sensitise the Aba business community on his company’s plans to take over the Aba ring fence area.
He explained at the meeting that Geometric, would provide constant and efficient power supply to nine Local Government Areas of Abia State, namely Aba North, Aba South, Osisioma, Obingwa, Isiala Ngwa North, Isiala Ngwa South, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East and Ukwa West.
To solve the power problem faced by industrialists and other residence of Aba, he explained that Geometric has built 140 megawatts of power plant in Aba with four additional sub-stations, to add to the three already in existence before they arrived, making it seven sub-stations in Aba and its environs.
He revealed also that Geometric had its own gas pipeline straight from Shell, a 27-kilometre pipeline from the power station to Shell at Ukwa.
