Abba Aliyu, managing director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), has stated that there are no abandoned rural electrification projects under his watch.
Aliyu made this assertion during an engagement with Journalists in Nigeria’s commercial capital, where he emphasised that the REA had successfully mobilised contractors back to sites, cleared outstanding payments, and ensured the completion of previously stalled projects.
Clearing backlogs
When questioned about reports of over 1,000 abandoned rural electrification projects across Nigeria, Aliyu refuted the claim, clarifying that while some projects had faced delays due to budgetary constraints, none had been outright abandoned.
“To date, there’s no single abandoned project,” he stated. “We have, one by one, paid all outstanding debts to contractors, mobilised them back to sites, and completed these projects. If any remain incomplete, it’s only because the budget provision wasn’t sufficient to conclude them, but we don’t have abandoned projects in REA at the moment,” Aliyu said at the official launch of Bellazir Energy Ltd.
This reassurance comes after years of public concern over stalled rural electrification initiatives, which left many communities without power despite government investments. Aliyu’s leadership appears to have turned the tide, ensuring that contractors return to work and projects reach completion.
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Promoting Local Manufacturing of Solar Panels
Before attending the Lagos event, Aliyu did a facility tour of a solar manufacturing and renewable energy services firm, LPV Technologies in Lagos.
“There was controversy over whether the government was importing solar panels or not,” he recalled. “But one of our key goals is to promote the localisation of solar panel manufacturing in Nigeria. We inspected this facility, assessed their production quality, and discussed ways to support such investments.”
This move aligns with Nigeria’s broader energy transition plan, which seeks to boost domestic capacity in renewable energy technology rather than relying on imports.
Aliyu expressed his commitment to collaborate with the company to curb financial losses in Nigeria’s renewable energy sector.
He praised the company as one of the nation’s most efficient factories and highlighted its key role in the national energy transition strategy.
He noted that Nigeria requires an estimated $410 billion to address its electricity access gap.
“Despite being the country with the highest potential for distributed renewable energy, Nigeria generated only 70,000 jobs in the sector last year—far fewer than China’s seven million out of a global total of 14 million,” Aliyu said.
He stressed the need to transform the electricity access challenge into an opportunity for job creation.
The REA chief commended LPV Technologies for its investments, not only in manufacturing but also in project implementation and workforce development. He emphasised that the company’s efforts align with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic strategy to boost local production and grow the GDP, turning a national challenge into a national opportunity.
