Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said President Bola Tinubu is not discriminating against any region, describing the recent power outage in the North as unfortunate.
Adelabu stated this during a meeting with Kano State Government officials on how to collaborate on improving power supply in the state and across the country, on Thursday.
“The situation is worrisome and unfortunate. The president does not intend to discriminate against any region.
“What happened was not deliberate, but unfortunate. It is not a situation we want to see repeated. If it ever does, we need to have a permanent solution in place,” the minister said.
He further explained that he and his team were on a working visit to Kano to inspect installations and other infrastructure in the region and to discuss the way forward with the state government.
The minister called on the state government to collaborate with his ministry to invest in power generation and distribution.
Adelabu noted that the power sector had been decentralised, granting 10 states authority to generate power, an opportunity said Kano is yet to access.
He, therefore, urged the state to take advantage of this opportunity.
“There is a need to partner with us in generation and distribution. The Federal Government is ready to collaborate, as there are many uncompleted projects that could otherwise lead to significant losses,” the minister said.
Responding, Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, represented by his Chief of Staff, Shehu Sagagi, assured the minister that the state government would explore ways to invest in the sector, adding that through the budget, subsidies would be provided for consumers.