Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday presided over the Presidential Power Reform Working Group as he continues to find solutions to Nigeria’s lingering power problems.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on 8 March appointed Prof. Osinbajo to head the Power Sector Reform Coordination Working Group.
The composition of the group was to consolidate the efforts of the federal and state governments to fix the power sector.
The group presided by Vice President Osinbajo meets weekly at the Presidential Villa.
According to a statement by the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai on 8 March, the new working group would incorporate the ongoing efforts of the National Economic Council on power sector reforms and distribution company ownership and ensure all power sector initiatives were on the same page under Osinbajo’s leadership.
Membership of the group comprises El-Rufai, representing the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and NEC.
Other members of the group are the Minister of Power, Mr Saleh Mamman; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed; Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele; and Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, Ahmad Zakari, who is the secretary of the group.
The late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, led the German Government/Siemens initiative to improve power supply.
NEC had constituted an ad hoc committee to determine the nature and extent of state governments’ ownership of distribution companies and provide feedback on the challenges afflicting power sector reforms.
“This new presidential working group will coordinate the ad hoc committee and other efforts on a national scale and report progress fortnightly to Mr President,” the statement read.
