Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has declared a state of emergency in the state’s power sector, with a bold target of achieving 24-hour power supply to spur socio-economic growth and industrial development.
He made the declaration during the ongoing Exco Ministerial Briefings in Uyo, where Governor Eno stressed the need for a collaborative effort among energy sector professionals to create a comprehensive power master plan.
To further drive this vision, the governor announced plans to hold a Power Summit in March 2025, where a Power Infrastructure Committee will be established to work alongside the Commissioner for Power to bring the administration’s energy goals to fruition.
“We cannot afford to continue with the status quo. Our goal is to provide 24-hour power supply to boost industrial growth and support economic activities across the state.
“It is imperative that we come together, as stakeholders in the energy sector, to develop a Power Master Plan that will serve as a catalyst for our state’s development,” the governor said.
Also, Engr. Camilus Umoh, the state commissioner for Power and Acting Managing Director of Ibom Power Limited, provided an update on the state’s power generation progress.
Umoh explained that the GenCo (Ibom Power) which started operations in December 2009 is a thermal (gas fired) facility with 191 Megawatts of installed power generating capacity with three turbines.
He said: “Ibom Power has consistently worked hard to supply electricity to the national grid or islands as the case may be. In 2024, we targeted 100MW, and though we averaged 50MW up to November 11, 2024.
“We provided 25-27MW and Island power to the state during moments of national grid collapse and successfully carried out capacity demo test (NBET/TCN/NCC) on December 16th, 2024, which saw the company generating a total of 107MW, the highest generation in 12 months with an IPC score of 89%.”
Despite these achievements, Umoh acknowledged the challenges of outdated transmission infrastructure, frequent grid collapse, foreign exchange, low tariffs, limited uptake by the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, due to energy theft and by-pass.
“The current state of power infrastructure, including the old Aba/Alaoji-Itu 330kV line, limits our ability to evacuate power effectively. We also face significant losses due to energy theft, which requires urgent collaboration to resolve through meter roll out,” he added.
Furthermore, he highlighted the troubling issue of vandalism.
“While Akwa Ibom State is the state with the highest investment in power infrastructure in South South and South East region, regrettably, the state is ironically also records the highest number of cases of transformer vandalism and theft in the region. It is critical that our communities take ownership of government facilities and protect them from such destruction,” he stated.
