- Atiku proposes using renewable energy to resolve energy shortages.
The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Candidate, Abubakar Atiku, has called for the diversification of Nigeria’s energy sources to renewable energy. He also suggests a decentralisation of the generation and transmission of electricity to enhance the steady supply of electricity and prevent the incessant collapse of the national grid.
The former vice president stated this recently during an exclusive interview with Arise TV.
Atiku noted he had suggested decentralising the grid as vice president. “I went to the president (Obasanjo) and said, “let us use other sources of power, hydro, solar, even coal because we are still a developing country and then break the concentration, but the president said no, that he believed more in gas. I said gas would be a problem for us because it is available only in one location. And it will take us a long time to have a gas plant that will supply the whole of this country’s electricity, and by the time we do that we will find out that the electricity we will be generating will be too heavy for our transmission.”
On stemming the incessant collapse of the national power grid, he advocated the decentralisation of power generation and transmission, considering the use of solar, hydroelectricity from mini dams, gas-powered electricity, where applicable, among others.