Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Solar Power Naija programme, a component of Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), will get to all geopolitical zones in the country soon.
Osinbajo’s spokesman Laolu Akande in a statement in Abuja said the vice president inaugurated the Solar Power Naija programme at Jangefe Community in Roni Local Government Area, Kazaure Emirate, Jigawa on Friday.
According to Osinbajo, the programme will deliver electricity to no fewer than 25 million Nigerians whose communities are off the grid.
The vice president restated Federal Government’s determination to ensure that millions more would access cheap and environmentally-friendly renewable power.
“After Jangefe, the rollout will continue across the six geopolitical zones in Edo, Lagos, Adamawa, Anambra, Kebbi and Plateau.
“ Other Solar companies are also in the pipeline for the Solar Power Naija facility to continue the march to five million connections during the life of this administration.”
The Solar Power Naija programme means the Jangefe community will get 1,000 Solar Home Systems connections for its estimated 5,000 population.
The commencement of the installation in Jigawa is part of a 100,000 scheme with A-SOLAR, a local solar power company implementing aspects of the ESP Solar Power Naija scheme.
The Jangefe community, which is the first location to be covered by the A-Solar company, will have monthly energy payments until the systems are fully paid for.
At that point, there will be a transfer of ownership to each consumer in the community.
Osinbajo commended the Jigawa Governor, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar, as well as other critical stakeholders, for ensuring the implementation of the programme.
“The governor’s style of engagement and focus on economic growth and cooperation by bringing people together is one of the reasons it was so easy to execute this project in Jigawa.
“This mindset and approach of the Jigawa administration created the environment for the Local Government Authority and the Emirate Council to work in harmony with the developers to make this project a reality.
“ This is probably why Jigawa State will continue to attract investments for the benefit of its people and the country at large,” he said.
The vice president also commended the Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najid Adamu, who made a down payment for the community to benefit from the solar connections.
Earlier in his remarks, Badaru commended both President Muhammadu Buhari and Osinbajo.
He said that Federal Government’s support to the state and other states in spite of declining resources had been unprecedented since 2015.
After the inauguration, Osinbajo visited the family of Alhaji Auwalu Dauda, a beneficiary of the programme in Jangefe to interact with members of the family on the impact of the programme.
Earlier on arrival in the state, Osinbajo attended, as special guest, the turbaning of the Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, as the Madakin Kazaure and Galadiman Roni.
Besides, the Jigawa governor, a number of state governors also joined the vice president at the palace of Emir of Kazaure for the turbaning of Adamu.
They included the governors of Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara and Katsina.
There were also members of the Federal Executive Council present including the National Security Adviser, Retired Gen. Baba Gana Monguno.