Abia State has submitted a bid to acquire 60 percent of the assets of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to boost power distribution in Umuahia, the state capital, and other adjoining local government areas.
Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, who disclosed this during a press briefing on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council meeting, said the move was part of efforts by the Governor Alex Otti-led administration to fast-track the development of the state.
Kanu, who said negotiations for the 60 percent acquisition of EEDC assets had reached an advanced stage, added that the process of ring-fencing eight local government areas in Abia Central and Abia North is ongoing.
Similarly, the commissioner announced that the state government had signed a memorandum of understanding with MTN Nigeria Limited for a digital transformation of the state covering six key areas.
According to him, the strategic partnership between the state and MTN Nigeria is the outcome of several months of negotiations between the state government officials and the management of MTN.
The commissioner identified the key areas as100 percent coverage of the population and space of the entire state with broadband access before the end of 2025, provision of 4G and 5G services in Aba, Umuahia, and Ohafia, and a device ownership scheme for Abia civil servants (a situation whereby MTN will finance the acquisition of laptops, smartphones, and Wi-Fi devices for civil servants).
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Others include digital governance (provision of cloud services and dedicated cloud computing services), establishment of Abia Digital Mall, and provision of a digital marketplace to drive both e-governance and e-commerce in the state.
The commissioner explained that the partnership would help the state to leverage technology to drive socio-economic growth.
Also, the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, announced that Abia State is among the pilot states for the solar-for-health-power project, an EU-sponsored project, which he said would be launched in a week’s time.
According to him, the EU will bring 70 percent financing, amounting to 2 million euros, while Abia State will pay a counterpart funding of 30 percent.
He noted that the project, when launched, would light up a minimum of nine health facilities across the state.