The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) is collaborating with the state government on a ‘Light Up Niger’ project, to improve power supply to the residents of the state.
The project, initiated by Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State, is also designed to address the challenge of metering in the state.
According to Bago, ensuring adequate power supply is critical to development in the state, “especially as the state is moving into an industrialisation and processing zone.”
“The initiative is a welcome development because Niger State is host to four hydro dams and the dams contribute about 60 percent electricity in Nigeria.”
Bago said the new Electricity Act has been domesticated in the state and Niger State Electricity Regulatory Commission has been created. He said the necessary paperwork for the regulatory commission was almost completed, and this would enable the state generate and distribute power.
Chijioke Okwuokenye, the chief operating officer of AEDC, said the project when completed, would pave the way for improved and sustained electricity supply to Niger State.
He commended the support of the Bago-led administration for the supply of transformers to communities, adding that the private sector needed such support to survive. He said the company was willing to continue to partner with the state government for the desired result.
