The Sokoto state Government needs about N1.9 billion for the total rehabilitation of electricity lines in the 23 local government areas of the state.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal stated this while receiving the report of a committee he set up on the epileptic power supply in the state.
The 7-man committee headed by the Deputy Governor of the state, Hon. Mannir Muhammad Dan’Iya was set up by the state government in order to find out the causes of epileptic power supply and recommend ways of improving it.
The governor said the state government will collaborate with the Ministry for Local Government Affairs to see how best execute the projects identified and suggested by the committee.
According to him, the state government will do its own bit in order to improve the electricity network in the state, particularly in rural areas.
He said even though fixing the short and epileptic electricity supply is not the responsibility of the state government, but there is the need for state government to set up an inter-ministerial committee to conduct an assessment on how the state government will intervene.
He added that there is need for reliable transmission process and distribution across the state, so that members of the public can benefit, just as he commended the federal government through the Minister of Power on the ongoing upgrading of the electricity line from Kebbi to Sokoto.
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Tambuwal assured the committee that its recommendations will be implemented.
In his address the chairman of the committee, Deputy Governor Dan Iya said after the first meeting of the committee, it coopted technical experts to assist it in order to perform its duty effectively.
He added that the committee also reached out to all the 23 local government sole administrators and visited all the affected rural communities with a view to verifying faults and assess their conditions.