Southern governors target 90,000MW to end poor power supply

The Southern Governors’ Forum has announced plans to achieve 90,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity to end poor power supply in the region.

The governors made this known via a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Monday, June 24, 2024.

The southern governors, at the meeting, highlighted the need to address the inadequate power supply in the region.

They stated: “To achieve 90,000 MW of electricity to adequately serve the estimated 90 million people in the southern region (using the rule of thumb of 1,000 MW per one million population), member states were encouraged to take advantage of the recent constitutional amendment that now allows states to regulate, generate, transmit and distribute electricity whilst also considering renewable sources of energy.

“The forum also noted the pressing need for an alternative power infrastructure grid to reduce the impact of grid collapse in the region.”

The governors further commended President Bola Tinubu on the different food palliative support to the states through rice and grains.

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They were also commended for complementing Tinubu in their various states through several initiatives ranging from food palliatives to transport allowances.

The governors added: The forum resolved to be more aggressive and intentional about food security. All states were enjoined to intensify their agricultural resurgence/revolution initiatives based on the cash and food crops best suited for each region to achieve food sufficiency, self-reliance, and employment generation.

“States are encouraged to set up special agro-processing zones to extract the most value from the agro-value chain.”

The meeting saw the emergence of Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun as the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum.

Abiodun replaced the immediate past chairman, late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, who died in December 2023.

Anambra State Charles Soludo was appointed as the forum’s vice chairman.

The Star