Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to making the state Nigeria’s clean energy hub by leveraging its electricity regulatory powers to attract and ongoing power sector reforms renewable energy investment.
Governor Otti stated this on Thursday in Umuahia while receiving the leadership of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV), and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), who visited the state to explore investment opportunities in renewable energy, clean transportation and housing.
The governor said Abia, being among the first states to establish an electricity regulatory agency, was well placed to lead Nigeria’s transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions.
He noted that the state’s assumption of electricity distribution responsibilities from the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) would significantly improve investor confidence and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy projects.
Governor Otti assured the visiting agencies that his administration would respond promptly to their proposals, promising that all submissions would receive government attention within 14 days to fast-track implementation.
The governor said that renewable energy remained central to the state’s transport strategy, disclosing plans to power the new bus terminals with solar energy and electric vehicle charging infrastructure instead of fossil fuels.
“I want to take the bus terminal off the grid and power it with solar in order to charge all our electric vehicles without burning diesel or petrol and that is how we can maximise carbon credit opportunities”, he said.
According to the governor, the technology, mapping and data presented by the agencies would not only strengthen electricity access but also support industrial revival, infrastructure planning and security operations across the state.
He reiterated his administration’s readiness to work closely with the agencies to identify practical areas of collaboration and proposed Aba as an ideal location for a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) facility because of its commercial strength and high transportation demand.
On housing development, the governor stressed the need for affordable mortgage financing to address the state’s housing deficit, noting that prevailing commercial lending rates has made home ownership unattainable for many Nigerians.
He directed the Commissioner for Housing and officials of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated to work with the promoters on ongoing housing estates as well as the proposed International Village project.
Describing the proposals as consistent with his administration’s development agenda, Governor Governor Otti said the proposal “is like music to our ears because it aligns with what we are already doing”.
Earlier, the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Dr Abba Aliyu, disclosed that the agency was implementing a $750 million renewable energy programme expected to unlock $1.1 billion in private sector investment for the deployment of 1,350 mini-grids across Nigeria.
Abba Aliyu
Aliyu, however, expressed concern that Abia had attracted only about six mini-grid projects despite signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the agency and urged the state to reposition itself to secure a larger share of the available funding.
He said the agency had already mapped communities, public institutions and electricity demand across Abia and called on the state government to facilitate approvals for interconnected mini-grids, encouraging indigenous renewable energy developers to access available financing for rural electrification.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Mr Ismaeel Ahmed, said the initiative was established to provide sustainable transport alternatives following the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.
Ahmed explained that the programme was harnessing Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources and promoting electric mobility to reduce transportation costs and carbon emissions.
He urged the Abia State Government to establish a Clean Mobility Steering Committee, appoint a state focal person and develop a clean mobility policy that would position the state as a regional hub for CNG and electric vehicles.
To support the initiative, Ahmed pledged the donation of five CNG buses, three electric buses and a gas station to strengthen the state’s public transport system.
He also promised to facilitate private investment in CNG infrastructure and electric vehicle charging stations and urged the state to participate in the Clean Mobility Investment Forum and take advantage of the Federal Government’s long-term asset financing programme for buses, tricycles and vehicle conversion to cleaner energy.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, Dr Armstrong Takang, said the joint visit was facilitated to ensure Abia benefited fully from ongoing Federal Government renewable energy initiatives.
Dr Armstrong Takang
Takang disclosed that MOFI was also working to operationalise its existing Memorandum of Understanding with the Abia State Government on real estate development, noting that the state had been selected as one of six pilot states for the agency’s housing finance programme.
He said the engagements would be implementation-driven, with technical teams expected to define responsibilities, timelines and deliverables that would produce measurable outcomes within 30, 60 and 90 days.
