Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has charged the members of the board, and management of the South East Development Commission (SEDC), to pay attention to the provision of electricity, as it’s key to the economic development of the region.
Gov. Otti was speaking, when he received a delegation of the board of the South East Development Commission (SEDC).
He said that investment in power is what government should do.
“These are the kind of investments that government should make to stabilise the economy. If the government don’t stabilize the economy, they can’t deal with unemployment, and they can’t deal with poverty ravaging everybody right now.
“You are the regional development body speaking for all of us. An area that is so critical to us, a major area to pay attention is power; electricity.
“If you are talking about industrialization, within small and medium scale enterprises, a major input into virtually every effort people make in industrialization, and manufacturing is power.
“So, if you solve that problem, you would have probably solved 60 percent of their problem.” Gov. Otti stated.
He revealed that as part of his commitment to support SMEs for the industrialization of the state, his government supported, and assisted Geometric to come on stream, adding that discussions are on with Interstate Electrics Limited for the state to take over their equity in EEDC to enable the government, facilitate the provision of power to the rest of the state.
He adding that Geometric has the capacity to generate about 188 megawatts, of which 100 megawatts will be enough to power the Aba Ring Fence, while the rest can be wheeled to the Umuahia Ring-Fence.
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This is contained in a statement issued on Friday, by his Chief Press Secretary, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha.
The governor noted that the commission was long over due because when things like the civil war happened, a country needs to be deliberate in rebuilding the affected parts, and reintegrating her into the scheme of things in the federation.
“Our people have worked so hard to reintegrate themselves. That is why when you come to Abia State, and any other state in the South East, our economy is an economy that does not have room for palliatives; all that our people want is that you create an enabling environment, and they will sort themselves out.
“We are lucky that people from this side are people who would want to do something. So, when you build road, clean the environment, provide enabling environment for their businesses to thrive, provide good hospitals, they can sort themselves out,” he added.
Gov. Otti commended President Tinubu for approving the setting up of the commission, and appreciated the National Assembly for giving the South East Development Commission Bill speedy passage, saying that the commission would among other things, provide an enabling environment and support businesses to thrive.
Earlier, Chairman of the commission, Dr. Emeka Wogu, acknowledged the commitment of Gov. Otti’s administration in developing the state, as evident in many completed, and ongoing infrastructural development projects
Wogu said that the commission has the mandate to deal with the developmental challenges confronting the South-East states.
He pledged the commitment of the commission to support the efforts of the governor, while bridging the development gap caused by years of neglect, as well as position the South-East for sustainable progress through reconstruction, reconciliation, rehabilitation and in addition, reintegration.
