Transmission is the bottleneck, not generation. What would you do about the grid itself?

Answer: My strategy is to build master drainage systems in flood-prone areas, modernize municipal solid waste recycling, and channel Ecological Fund resources directly into local erosion control and sanitation programmes. Q12: Many communities depend on wells that dry up during the dry season. What is your plan for sustainable year-round water supply, particularly in rural areas? Answer: My administration will focus on deep-aquifer drilling, rainwater harvesting infrastructure, and small earth dams to store water for year-round domestic and agricultural use. Q13: We don't have reliable electricity in our community despite having poles and repeated promises. How will you make sure electricity actually reaches underserved communities? Answer: My plan is to move power distribution and generation off the exclusive federal list, empowering states and off-grid developers to directly connect and supply electricity to underserved areas.

Q14: Electricity is unreliable and families and businesses spend a large part of their income on generators. How will you make power more reliable and affordable? Answer: My policy is to unbundle state power assets, concession national grid transmission to private investors, get gas supply guarantees for power plants, and encourage captive power generation for industrial zones.

Q15: Many rural communities are far from the national grid. What role will solar, mini-grids and other alternative energy sources play in providing them with electricity? Answer: I would make solar mini-grids that will serve as the primary power source for off-grid communities, supported by zero import tariffs on solar components and capital subsidies for renewable energy providers. Q16: Nigeria has invested in many power projects but electricity remains unreliable. What will you do differently, and how will you ensure abandoned or delayed electricity projects are completed? Answer: My administration will audit all stalled power projects, convert viable uncompleted assets into public-private concessions, and enforce strict anti-corruption oversight on all energy contracts. Q17: Bad rural roads prevent people from reaching farms, markets, schools and hospitals, especially during the rainy season. How will you improve rural roads and connectivity? Answer: I plan to expand the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) using matching federal-state funds to pave critical farm-to-market feeder roads.

Secondly, it is a big boost to businesses. Aba is one of Southeast's industrial nerve centres. The other is the Nnewi axis. Inadequate power infrastructure is identified as the most problematic factor for doing business in Nigeria. More than 70% of firms in Nigeria use generators. Thirdly, the project is delivered by the private sector - and an indigenous one to boot! It demonstrates the resilience of the private sector despite all the business environment issues. It also demonstrates the capacity of the local private sector to deliver on such huge and complex projects. Why does this excite me? I have all along been concerned that: 1. The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) has over the years suffered from inadequate investments, failure of generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. 2. Nigeria’s core infrastructure stock is very low, estimated at 35-40% of GDP, below the international benchmark of 70% and below South Africa 87%, Indonesia 70%, China 76% and India 58%.

· Attention must be paid to improve access to Credit by enterprises willing to invest in the power sector. · Government must incentivize the private sector to increase greenfield investments in the development of off-grid solutions to intensify electrification, particularly of rural communities not yet serviced by the grid. -AA

Even as we focus on investments in additional generation, there's a compelling need for capacity for the complementary transmission and distribution infrastructure to transport the supplementary energy produced. Considering that energy opportunities exist in different parts of the country, our strategy should be a viable mix of renewable (hydro, solar, wind and biofuels) and non-renewable (coal, gas). I wish to restate my earlier recommendation to encourage private investors to invest in developing multiple green-field mini-grid transmission systems to be looped into the super-grid in the medium to long term. -AA