By Bisola Adeyemo
As part of efforts to reduce the energy shortcomings in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has said no fewer than 5 million households in Nigeria will get access to steady electricity power by 2030.
Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s spokesman in a statement late Friday evening, said Buhari spoke in line with Nigeria’s role as a Global Theme Champion for the Energy Transition.
He said this at the High-Level Dialogue on Energy on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The president said: “Nigeria’s commitment to a just transition is reflected in our ambitious Energy Compact, which includes the Government’s flagship project to electrify five million households and twenty million people using decentralized solar energy solutions.
“This is a major first step towards closing our energy access deficit by 2030.
“Nigeria’s commitment is also reflected in the development of our Energy Transition Plan, which was developed with support of the UK COP26 Energy Transition Council.”
“The Nigerian leader called for support from developed countries to unlock the financing needed to accelerate a just energy transition for all.
“The focus of our discussions on transition must now evolve how we help countries develop detailed energy transition plans and commitments to mobilize enough financing to empower countries to implement those plans,” he said.
According to him, the scale of financing required for Nigeria to achieve net-zero, amounts to over 400 billion dollars across the Nigerian economy in excess of business-as-usual spending over the next 30 years.
The president, however, said that gas would continue to have a big role to play before it is phased out, explaining that solid fuel cooking is still wreaking havoc in Africa.