The Vice
President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has stated that the Federal Government is
actively supporting private investors in the power sector, and is continuously
working to ensure the business environment is conducive for businesses to
thrive in the country.
Osinbajo,
according to a statement issued by his media aide, Laolu Akande, said this at a
media chat with journalists after a tour of the Azura Power Plant near Benin
City, on day two of his working visit to Edo State.
Azura-Edo
Independent Power Plant is a 450MW open cycle gas turbine power station.
While
commending the commitment of operators in driving the project to conclusion
ahead of schedule, Osinbajo stated that the additional 460MW to the National
Grid has greatly improved the power situation in the country, while applauding
the quality of the power plant.
He told the
journalists “as you can see for yourselves, it is an excellent and wonderful
project, which demonstrates the capacity of Nigerian engineering and
enterprise.”
The Vice
President mentioned government’s readiness to “provide support that we can,
ensuring the environment is right for those who want to invest in the power
sector”, adding that government would expect “Azura itself, to increase its
capacity as time goes on, and then of course, we would see others who would
come as well”.
He commended
Governor Godwin Obaseki for the other various projects his administration has
undertaken, including the commissioning of the 1,600 units of housing, the
governor’s collaboration with Federal Government in ensuring the launch of the
South-south Innovation Hub, amongst others.
Similarly,
the Vice President added his visit involved seeing the beneficiaries of the
different Social Investment Programmes of the Federal Government.
In rounding
off the visit, Vice President Osinbajo paid a courtesy call on the Oba of
Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo. The Oba, in his response, praised the
VP saying “he is doing extremely very well.”
The Oba also
asked Osinbajo to extend appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for
declaring June 12 as Democracy Day and for honoring the winner of the 1993
presidential election, the late Chief M.K.O Abiola.
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