Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar and his counterpart in the Labour Party, Peter Obi, have flayed the incessant cases of national electricity grid collapse in the country.
This is as the Transmission Company of Nigeria announced the collapsed of the National grid for the 6th time in 2022 alone, which as usual halt power supplies to some parts of the country.
Abubakar in his verified social media handles lamented over the sorry state power supply in the country, describing the grid collapse as one too many.
He assured that if he becomes the President in 2023, he will place priority on power by incentivising the power sector and establish an Infrastructure Debt Fund with initial capacity of $20billion to deliver large infrastructure projects across all the sectors of the economy.
“Due to the priority that I place on the power sector upon which the successes of other sectors are hinged, I am proposing innovative financing of infrastructure that will involve the facilitation of a review of the financial, legal, and regulatory environment to promote private investment in power, among other sectors.
“I’ll promote the incentivisation, with tax breaks, a consortium of private sector institutions to establish an Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) to primarily mobilise domestic and international private resources for the financing and delivery of large infrastructure projects across all the sectors of the economy.
“The IDF will have an initial investment capacity of approximately $20 billion. In addition, I’ll cause the creation of an Infrastructure Development Credit Guarantee Agency to complement the operation of the IDF by de-risking investments in infrastructure to build investor confidence in taking risks and investing capital.”
Similarly, the Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, Peter Gregory Obi, said incessant cases of national grid collapse which plunges Nigerians into darkness, was not only benchmarks for governance failure but a compelling catalyst for leadership change.
Obi also expressed worries over the nationwide strike action embarked upon by bakers in the country, saying that government must live up to its statutory responsibilities to avert socio-economic incidents that induce extreme shock and stress on the national population
“Reports that the national power grid has collapsed for the 6th time in 7 months is alarming. Once again, many Nigerians have been left grope around in darkness without electricity.
“Such negative parameters are not only benchmarks for governance failure but a compelling catalyst for leadership change.
“Moreover, in a nation where many go to bed hungry, and national bakers going on strike is indicative of the high-stress level in both the productive realm of our economy and quality of life.
“Also, for bread, one of the basic and affordable daily sustenance of the average Nigerian to become unavailable translates to a national crisis.”
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