Reps Investigate FG’s Abandoned N3.4bn Solar Power Project

The House of Representatives has set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the Off Grid Renewable Solar Energy Project of the Federal Government, codenamed Operation Light Up Rural Nigeria, valued at N3.4bn, which has been allegedly abandoned.

The committee is to specifically investigate the abandonment of the projects by the Federal Ministry of Power since 2018 despite the huge amounts of money expended on them.

A member, Mr Aniekan Umanah, had at the plenary on Tuesday moved a motion titled, ‘Need to investigate the failure of the Federal Government’s N3.4bn solar powered grid project in the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory.’

The House had unanimously adopted the motion.

The Federal Government had launched the project on January 14, 2014.

The project was to deploy renewable energy to get electricity to rural communities that are not on the national grid, in all the 36 states of the federation.

Moving the motion on Tuesday, Umanah recalled that the then Federal Ministry of Power, in 2013, rolled out an Off-Grid Renewable Solar Energy Project with a budget of N3.446bn for four years.

The lawmaker decried that the overall intention of government to power up the rural areas had been defeated by the inefficient handling of the project since inception.