Alex Otti, governor of Abia state, says his administration is working towards taking Abia off the national grid and providing uninterrupted electricity across the state.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Invest Lagos Summit on Monday, the governor said the state was leveraging recent reforms in the power sector to gain greater control over electricity generation and distribution.
According to Otti, the goal is to ensure a reliable power supply for households and businesses while attracting investors to the state.
“We want to have control of power in our own hands,” he said.
The governor said the state plans to utilise excess capacity from the Geometric Power plant in Aba to supply other parts of Abia.
“We believe that Geometric, at maximum capacity of 188 megawatts, would have excess capacity and we can just wheel it to Umuahia and other parts of the state,” he said.
“By God’s grace, in a few years, we should also guarantee a 24-hour power supply in Umuahia and other local governments.”
Otti said reliable electricity would significantly reduce production costs for manufacturers and make the state more attractive to investors.
“A lot of manufacturers and industries spend about 60 to 70 percent of their cost on power and energy,” he said.
He revealed that a steel manufacturing company had decided to relocate its plant to Abia because of the prospect of stable electricity supply.
“I got a call from somebody yesterday who wanted to relocate a steel plant that has been built in another state,” he said.
“He has built it, but he has no power. He is looking for a place where he can guarantee a 24-hour supply of power, and I said, please come.”
The governor added that the state had already allocated five hectares of land near Geometric Power for the project.
ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE
Beyond power, Otti highlighted investments in road infrastructure, transportation and healthcare as part of efforts to improve the business environment in the state.
He said the administration had completed over 400 roads covering about 864 kilometres, while another 82 road projects spanning 211 kilometres were ongoing.
The governor also disclosed that the state had launched 20 electric buses, with another 20 expected from China next month.
On healthcare, Otti said Abia had allocated 15 percent of its annual budget to the sector over the past three years and had refurbished 277 primary healthcare centres.
He added that the state had employed about 800 healthcare professionals and was pursuing plans to establish a medical city requiring about $1.3 billion in investment.
“We need help with our vision to build a medical city in Abia State,” he said.
“If it is true that every year we spend about $2 billion to $2.5 billion on medical tourism, we are just saying maybe $200 million should come to Abia State.”
Otti also invited investors to participate in the state’s industrialisation drive through the Abia Industrial and Innovation Park located in Owaza.
