Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has described the unresolved impasse around the Aba Independent Power Project as one of the greatest impediments militating against the development of the economy of the state.
Dr. Ikpeazu made this assertion last night while receiving a team from the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who came to brief him on the visit of the Vice President to Aba next week for the launch of the MSME CLINIC.
The Governor expressed deep regrets that this clearly avoidable contractual imbroglio has become a strong hurdle facing the development efforts of the Aba Business Community and by extension, the entire State.
While thanking the Vice President and the Minister for Power for resolving the first phase of the problem, he reminded them that other key issues remain unresolved between the key gladiators in the issue – Geometric Power Ltd led by Prof Barth Nnaji and the EEDC led by Chief Emeka Offor.
According to the Governor, there is still the outstanding issue of a 25 Million Dollar claim which the project financiers led by the AFREXIM BANK are still finding it hard to resolve, asking the Federal Government to weigh in on the issue and get the parties to dialogue and sort out these issues administratively, assuring that once there is steady and sustainable power in Aba, the people will gladly pay for it. According to the Governor, any investments made in this area will be recouped in less than three years.
Describing steady power as the biggest enabler of industrial and economic development, the Governor told the team that the economy of the state will witness a huge resurgence once the Geometric Power issue is resolved because all the local manufacturing concerns in the town need power to function.
Sadly, the State Government cannot do much in this dispute since it is clearly a contractual issue between the companies and the federal government.
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