Minister of State for Power, Mrs. Zainab Kuchi
A
total of N16bn will be spent by the Federal Government on rural
electrification projects this year, the Minister of State for Power,
Mrs. Zainab Kuchi, has said.
She said a large percentage of the sum
would be used to revive the numerous abandoned electricity projects
scattered across various rural communities in the country.
Kuchi spoke at the headquarters of the
Federal Ministry of Power in Abuja on Tuesday during the inauguration of
an 11-man board for the Rural Electrification Agency.
“The funding for the REA is N16bn this
year and that will go squarely for the development of the abandoned
projects in our rural areas. The abandoned projects have been identified
and we advise proper funding for these projects,” she said.
The minister stated that the agency had
been in existence for a long time, though its presence was poorly felt
by rural dwellers.
According to her, the inauguration of
the board is aimed at reviving the nearly comatose agency and stressed
that the members should focus on the development of appropriate
technologies for rural electrification.
Kuchi said, “Our target is to achieve 75
per cent rural electrification access by 2020. This is your charge.
Your key indicators will include the number of rural communities that
have access to electricity and the number of investors who we are able
to attract to the rural electrification sub-sector.
“Others are the extent to which we are
able to garner information on local technology and work towards their
application in the rural electrification agency; and how many jobs we
are able to create in the rural economy and the impact to which we are
able to have on socio-economic development in the rural areas.”
The minister said electricity, under
Nigerian laws fell within the concurrent list, adding that the federal,
states and local governments could participate in its provision.
Kuchi explained that the new policy
focus was to ensure greater synergy in terms of planning, content of
programmes and projects, and in actual implementation.
Speaking on behalf of the members, the
REA Board Chairman, Senator Jonathan Zwingina, said the short history of
the agency was replete with ups and downs.
He commended the President for putting
back the agency on track and pledged that the board would bring power to
the rural communities.
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