The Abia government says it plans to convene a public hearing on its proposed electricity bill, pending at the House of Assembly.

Information commissioner Okey Kanu said this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the government’s executive council meeting.

Mr Kanu said the parliament was expected to quicken the process of passing the bill when they resume from their recess.

“The passage of the bill will give further impetus to the ongoing reforms in the state’s power sector,” he said.

Mr Kanu also said school resumption for the 2024/25 academic session had been postponed from September 16 to Wednesday, September 23, because of the public holiday.

“Abia has been selected as one of the six states that would fly Nigeria’s flag at an international medical symposium holding in Ghana. The symposium is a bi-phasic initiative between the World Bank and the federal government.

“The symposium is entitled HOPE, which stands for Human Capital Opportunity for Prosperity and Equity,” he said.

The commissioner said Abia was chosen because of the focus on the state due to the ongoing reforms in the state’s health sector. He said the Light-up Abia Initiative had been expanding beyond Aba and Umuahia, with 4,346 solar lights installed in 86 locations across the state.

He also said the lights were meant to improve the security and aesthetics of the towns for comfort.

Also, the power and public utilities commissioner, Ikechukwu, on Monday, said the bill picked relevant items from an existing electricity act. He said the old law was passed before the federal government removed electricity generation, transmission and distribution from the exclusive legislative list.

Mr Monday said the new bill, when passed, would help establish an Abia electricity regulatory authority to regulate the state’s electricity market.

He promised that the law would protect Abia residents and investors in the energy sector, having provided for prepaid meters installation and the possibility of recouping investor’s funds. 

(NAN)