Governors of the South-South states under the auspices of the BRACED (Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo, and Delta) Commission met on Tuesday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, urging the Federal Government to embark on a comprehensive review of the power sector, particularly with reference to transmission.
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The meeting, which was hosted by the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, had in attendance the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, the deputy governor of Delta State, Monday Onyeme, and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, while the Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, sent two representatives.
In a communiqué read by Governor Obaseki, who is chairman of the commission, the South-South state governors lamented the persistently poor state of electricity in the region, saying that member states had made huge investments in the power sector by successive governments of the region.
The commission further called on the power companies operating in the region to work more closely with the governments of the BRACED Commission to ensure the operationalization of the new Electricity Act of 2023.
While commending the President of Nigeria, Senator Bola Tinubu, for approving the construction of the coastal road from Lagos to Calabar, the commission called on the Federal Government to expedite work on the east-west road.
It also stressed the need for member states to develop better regional interconnectivity through road, rail, water, and air systems.
It equally condemned the March 14 killing of 17 military officers at Okuama community in Delta State and expressed its condolences to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the military hierarchy, and especially to the families of the slain officers while calling on the Federal Government to set up a high-powered commission of inquiry to unearth what transpired in order to avoid such occurrences in the future.
The commission commended the Federal Government for the establishment of the National Agriculture Fund and looks forward to working with the agency to improve the economic development of the region, particularly in the areas of agro-entrepreneurship and food sufficiency.
The BRACED commission welcomed the ongoing efforts of member states to promote financial literacy and skills acquisition among women and youths in order to promote the growth of small and medium enterprises in the region and directed that the training and ongoing efforts be sustained throughout the region.
It also commended the Bayelsa State government for its cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to build a peace architecture to curb crimes and prevent violence in the state and discussed modalities for the expansion of the programme to include other states in the region.
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