A lawmaker, Ibe Osonwa, representing the Arochukwu/Ohafia federal constituency of Abia, has advised President Bola Tinubu’s government to prioritise a stable electricity supply in the country.

Mr Osonwa gave the advice during an interactive session with journalists in Umuahia on Saturday. He said that achieving stable power in the country would help unlock Nigerians’ productive capacity, scale up exportation, and reduce importation.

“Once electricity is stable and affordable and production goes up, prices of goods will become cheaper and affordable,” he said.

According to him, the only way Nigeria can migrate from consumption to production is for the government to prioritise electricity supply and reduce the cost of production.

He said, “When that is achieved, the country’s manufacturing sector will scale up their production capacity, this will create employment and poverty and hunger will ultimately reduce.

“Nigeria is failing as a country to become productive and I’m hopeful that once the problem of power is solved, the country will become productive. We are buying everything and producing nothing because of poor electricity supply.

“This is not good for a country with a huge population as Nigeria.”

According to him, while the economies of India and China depend on the country’s huge population, Nigeria’s large population is not efficiently deployed to enhance production.

The lawmaker advised that electricity distribution must be given to competent companies capable of performing efficiently. He argued that such contracts must not necessarily be given to Nigerians.

He contended that existing contracts could be revoked and awarded to other companies to improve power distribution efficiency.

He expressed concern over the alleged inability of the existing distribution companies to meet the country’s electricity needs.

He also alleged sharp practices by industry operators, citing crazy bills arising from the companies’ estimated billing methods.

(NAN)