Lawmaker Tasks FG on Adequate Power Supply to Build Productive Economy
Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
A member of the House of Representatives, Hon Ibe Okwara Osonwa, has tasked the government on the issue of generating adequate electricity to power the country’s productive sector and enhance economic growth.
He bared his mind on the sorry state of Nigeria’s electricity supply in a chat with journalists at Umuahia, Abia State, at the weekend, saying that the poor power generating capacity of Nigeria would continue to drag the economy down.
Osonwa, who represents Arochukwu/Ohafia federal constituency in the National Assembly, said that the federal government should deploy every resources and policy framework to make Nigeria meet its electricity needs.
He said: “I want the president to look into the issue of power (because) electricity takes as much as 60 percent of production cost.”
The Labour Party (LP) federal lawmaker said Nigeria is not making appreciable headway to join the league of productive nations in the world due to the abysmal power supply in the country.
According to him, “We (import) everything in this country, which means that we are failing to be a manufacturing country.
“We can only produce as a country if we have adequate electricity. Once we solve power problem, we’ll solve production problem and when we will produce, consume, sell and import less.”
To worsen the issue of inadequate power supply, the lawmaker lamented that Nigerians were being made to pay heavily for government’s failure to provide adequate electricity as power distribution companies exploit consumers.
He cited his community which has been without power supply for over five years yet the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has come up with N2.1 billion electricity bill for the community.
However, Osonwa said that he, along with some leaders of his community, were already engaged in discussions to reconcile the outrageous bill for ‘darkness’.
The Arochukwu/Ohafia representative, who is new in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly, said that he has been doing his best to give his constituents quality representation having acclimatised quickly.
He said that he has had useful discussions with the Minister of Works, David Umahi, on the urgent need to reconstruct the Omenuko bridge, a very narrow colonial bridge at Ozu Abam on the busy Umuahia-Bende-Ohafia federal road.
Osonwa stated that the Muri Bridge on the same road would also receive the needed attention for reinforcement.
He informed his constituents that they were factored into the 2024 federal budget, noting that six contracts on roads, and electricity have been awarded, waiting for funding while 15 others would be awarded in due course.
