The House of Representatives on Thursday unveiled plans to investigate the multi-billion dollar grants and investments attracted to fund the renewable energy subsector in Nigeria.
The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Jesse Okey Joe Onuakalusi.
In his lead debate, Hon. Onuakalusi emphasized the importance of electricity for the economic and social development of every nation and underscored the need for the House to ascertain the funds attracted into the subsector.
“The House is aware that poor electricity generation and distribution pose a great challenge to the country’s economic development and living conditions of its people.
“The House is cognizant of the fact that successive governments since 2015, in an effort to address electricity supply challenges, made huge investments and attracted multi-million dollar foreign grants to the renewable energy subsector of the Power Industry in Nigeria to energize a viable and sustainable alternative energy and supply.
“The House recalls that in December 2023, the World Bank approved a $750 million facility to boost renewable energy in Nigeria, with the objective of providing over 17.5 million Nigerians with improved access to electricity through distributed Renewable Energy solutions;
“The House also recalls that in 2020, the federal government launched a $200 million renewable energy project tagged ‘Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP)’ to provide off-grid energy to over 500,000 people across 105,000 households in rural communities in Nigeria with facilities sourced from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
“The House further recalls that in 2023, the Rural Electrification Agency reported that over $2 billion in renewable energy has been attracted in the past decade without any noticeable improvement
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“The House is worried that in spite of the huge investments and foreign grants to develop the renewable energy sector and contribute meaningfully to the public grid with the intention to improve electricity supply and boost the economy, no visible contribution from the renewable energy mix to the national grid has been recorded.
“The House is alarmed that the dysfunctional electricity generation and supply system remain abetted, contrary to the objective behind the purpose-driven government investment and grants attracted and received to develop the renewable energy sector,” he noted.
To this end, the House mandated its Committee on Renewable Energy to investigate Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the government associated with investment, procurement, and receipt of grants meant to develop the renewable energy sector from 2015 till date and report within four weeks for further legislative action.
