Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday urged state governments to end their dependence on the Federal Government for solutions to local power problems and to set up functional electricity markets under the Electricity Act 2023.
He spoke at the opening of the National Stakeholders’ Workshop on the Electricity Act 2023 at the State House Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The workshop, themed “Unlocking the Opportunities of the Electricity Act 2023 for Sustainable Energy Development and Economic Growth in Nigeria,” brought together federal and state institutions and regulators.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Hadejia, on Wednesday, Shettima said Nigeria’s ambition of building a competitive industrial economy would remain constrained unless electricity reforms produced reliable power for businesses, households and public institutions.
He said the Act had created an opportunity to decentralise electricity governance and let states build power markets suited to their economies and resources.
“The Act empowers states to develop and regulate intrastate electricity markets within the applicable constitutional and statutory framework.
“The size, diversity and endowments of this nation demand this decentralisation.
