By David Olalekan.
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has revealed that the Federal Government has invested about N1.5 trillion in the power sector within the last two years.
The Vice President made the disclosure yesterday while speaking at the Kainji hydro power plant in Niger state.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, Osinbajo said it was imperative to put structural reforms in place to enable the power sector fund itself sustainably.
“The federal executive council recently approved the third round of intervention funding for the (power) sector, with a total of about N1.5tn in the last two years.
“However, if the country is to achieve its aim of channelling funding to other critical sectors of the economy, it is pertinent that structural reforms be put in place to enable the power sector to fund itself sustainably.
“These policy reforms must however take into consideration the need for under-privileged Nigerians to gain access to affordable electricity to power their homes and small businesses, as the government seeks to move Nigeria further up the World Bank’s doing business rankings”, the Vice President said.
It was gathered that the Buhari-led Federal Government had in August, approved another N600 billion intervention fund to complement the N900 billion earlier invested in the power sector.