Abia ready to partner Infracorp on infrastructure dev’t, says Otti
By Jeffrey Agbo
Abia State Government has said it is willing to collaborate with the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp) in some critical areas of the state’s economy, including agriculture and power.
Governor Alex Otti stated this at a meeting with the managing director/chief executive officer of the corporation, Lazarus Angbazo, and his team, who visited him on Thursday.
Otti said his government would engage further with the team to see how to enhance power to all parts of the state.
He disclosed that the Abia State Government was in discussion with Geometric Power, Aba, on the possibility of taking excess power from the plant to boost electricity supply to Umuahia and its environs, a discussion, he said, was receiving positive attention.
The governor also said that his government was intentional and deliberate about the things it wanted to do, and stated that governance was about partnership.
Otti was of the view that government would do better when it attracts more investors into the state, maintaining that government’s attention on infrastructure and security was to drive development in the state.
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He said, “For me, governance is about partnership. You can only do so much in the confines of your area, be it the national or sub national. So, for us, we feel we need to attract as many partners as possible. That’s why we are deliberate in infrastructure. We know that when you secure the place (state) and provide infrastructure, investors will come.
“We have productive land, the kind of land which speaks to agriculture. Times were in the past when governments relied 100 percent on agriculture. The area of agriculture is very critical to our strategy and we want to engage further on that, just like power.
“Just less than 40 megawatts (of electricity) coming from Geometric today to Aba has changed a lot of things. And if from what we hear, the second turbine is fully commissioned then you will be talking about 80 to 90 megawatts. So, the story will be changed. There are businesses that rely fully on power. It is very important we solve the problem of power in the remaining eight local government areas of the state.”
Speaking, the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, said that Abia is blessed with great potential, with Aba as the industrial hub of the South East region.
He explained that Abia was working on increasing power in the state and would like to partner the corporation, adding that the state was interested in collaborating with many investors to give Abia people the desired development.
Earlier, the InfraCorp boss expressed willingness for partnership with Abia.
He explained that the corporation is a government-backed, privately-managed vehicle to complement infrastructural development in the states of the federation. He said his organisation’s mandate covers power, energy transmission, agriculture and industrialisation, among others.
Angbazo commended the governor for his leadership style and for bringing credibility to governance, adding that they were in the state to key into the government’s plan for restoring Aba’s leadership as an industrial hub.