Power Minister Urges Reforms To Boost REA Projects

Goddy Jedy-Agba, minister of state for power has called for reforms in the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), urging the Federal Government to support the agency because of its enormous potential.

According to the minister, the REA has performed well, having impacted several rural communities in all six geo-political zones.

Jedy-Agba, who expressed confidence in the competence of Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, managing director/CEO of REA, urged him to remain focused on the assignment at hand because it will positively impact the country.

“For us to move forward in a sector as critical as this, we need reforms, and that is what this agency has been doing,” he said.

The minister further charged the FG to encourage the electrification agency’s works and treat it as a star agency with enormous potential.

“I want to assure you that in all the six geopolitical zones of this country, we have had two projects in each state,” Jedy-Agba said.

“There is no community in any of the geo-political zones where we do not have a rural solar light intervention. We have had solar panels and mini-grids in all the zones.”

With assistance from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, REA is putting into action the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), one of the largest electrification initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa.

More than 5 million Nigerians have benefited from this initiative so far.In the last three years, the agency has finished the first Rural Electrification Fund (REF) call, providing 12 solar hybrid mini-grids and more than 19,000 solar household systems as part of efforts to catalyze off-grid electrification.

Projects to deliver a total of 51 more solar hybrid mini-grids are under progress for the second REF call.The REA has installed solar hybrid power plants at seven institutions as part of its energizing education program’s first phase.