Kogi State Deputy Governor, Chief Edward Onoja has disclosed that the state government has concluded plans to connect communities in the Eastern flank to the national grid.
Onoja, who serves as Chairman of Project Light Up Kogi East (PLUKE), an initiative of the Governor Yahaya Bello-led administration, made this known when he paid a courtesy call to the Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy Agba in Abuja.
He sought synergy with the Minister’s office to help actualize the PLUKE initiative.
Onoja stated that under the PLUKE initiative, the state state government set target to initiate and execute electrification projects in 100 communities yearly. He said the state government has concluded plans to light up many communities in Kogi East presently in perpetual darkness.
He said despite being the largest senatorial district, over 90% of the entire rural areas in the district are without electrification.
He condemned the negligence of past governments who left the region in total darkness which led to poverty and low substandard of living, stressing that renewable power models would also be applied in some selected communities
He also assured the readiness of the New Direction Government to actualize the project phase by phase as the 2020 budget has catered for the PLUKE project.
Responding, the Minister assured the Kogi state government of readiness to collaborate with her to actualize the project. He thanked the Deputy Governor for the visit which he said show the readiness of Kogi state government to actualize the project.
The PLUKE project already is underway, with feasibility and stock taking studies in advanced stages of bridging the electricity gap in the senatorial district.
