Governor Hope Uzodimma has assured residents of the 27 LGAs of Imo that they will soon enjoy an uninterrupted power supply. He gave the assurance while signing two executive bills into law: one on electricity and another amending Imo State Polytechnic Law No. 15 of 2012 to pave the way for the merger of the polytechnic’s campuses.

The governor said the electricity law would rapidly develop rural communities and urban centres.

Mr Uzodimma said, “We are all living witnesses to the ordeal our people are going through in the power sector. There is absolutely limited or even no supply; businesses are dying every day, and people are losing every day, with the unemployment market swelling every day.

“I think it has come to a time that every sub-national government must rise and provide what will make life meaningful to her people.

“Electricity is as important as the food we eat every day. It is the beginning of every development.”

The governor, who noted that he took a comprehensive audit of the federal facilities in Imo and infrastructure meant to provide power, expressed concern over the abandoned Amaraku electricity project.

He said, “The transmission and distribution infrastructure at the federal project at Egbema Power Plant initiated in 2006 has not been completed 18 years after. I have approached the Federal Government and requested that the project be transferred to Imo state and her development partners.

“I am happy to announce to you that President Bola Tinubu has approved the transfer of the project to the Imo government. I am also happy to announce that an agreement has been signed by the Imo government with a world-class power company from Egypt with credibility to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in the state.”

He expressed confidence that the power supply in Imo will improve in the next 12 months. Mr Uzodimma further noted that an agreement had been signed with an Egyptian company, Afreximbank, Fidelity Bank, and Marriott Group, to provide a 200-room Imo Marriott Hotel in Owerri.

He added that the Imo government only provided land in the public-private partnership project, which would be completed within 24 months.

The governor said the three projects would provide over 5,000 direct jobs for the people of Imo.

He said the government has already agreed with an Egyptian firm, Elsewedy Power Generation, to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity to all parts of the state within the next eight months.

The governor also announced that, in addition to electricity being now on the concurrent list, the federal government has approved and supported the ambitious project.

(NAN)