Give States Powers To Generate and Distribute Electricity – Gov Udom Urges FG

Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, has blamed policies of the Federal Government for hindering his investments in the state’s power sector, saying all his efforts at getting the state to distribute power are being frustrated.

Emmanuel who disclosed this on Sunday at a press briefing to present his score card in the past six years, noted that the Ibom Power Plant located at Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of the state, currently generates 150 megawatts of electricity which is more than enough to provide at 22-hour electricity to all parts of the state.

He added that the state-of-the-art sub-station at Ekim Iman, as well as hundreds of transformers installed in almost the communities in the state, Akwa Ibom State shouldn’t be suffering from power outages if the policies of the FG has been favourable to his various interventions and investments in the sector.

Emmanuel called on the Federal Government to liberalise the power sector to allow state governors generate and distribute power to their citizens.

“Apart from economic and security challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic that is ravaging the whole world has affected our performance,” the governor said.

“As a governor, you don’t control policies. If you have that limitation, you can’t perform optimally.

“There are a lot of things you will like to do but you don’t get policy support.”

Emmanuel insisted that despite the economic and security challenges that has confronted the country, his administration had made maximum use of the available resources to provide basic infrastructure to the people.

The governor added that in the past six years, his administration had attracted investors to the state through a good road network, and an environment conducive enough to businesses to thrive.