Osinbajo said this at the National Forum on the Economy, organised by Vintage Press, publishers of The Nation Newspapers, with the theme: “National Economy: The Way Forward,” in Lagos.
The event, held at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, was attended by other dignitaries, including the Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode; his Imo State counterpart, Chief Rochas Okorocha, among others.
Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, was represented by the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Bimbo Ashiru, while the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, was represented by the deputy governor, Chief Moses Adeyemo.
Osinbajo, while noting that power supply had been one of the challenges facing the administration headed by President Muhammadu Buhari, said “we have installed capacity of up to 12,000 megawatts. That is to say, we actually have plants that can supply 12,000 megawatts.
“The problem is getting gas to those plants. Making sure the plants work to capacity. That is one aspect of the problems. The problem is that there are several gas projects, in other words, it is pipelines taking gas to the plants that have not been completed.
“Some of them have been discountinued, some others have been abandoned,” he added.
The vice-president, however, promised that the government was resolved to address the problem, by ensuring that gas supply was available to those plants, which, he said, were mainly located in the West, with the gas being in the East.
“We have to do that,” he promised, even as he said other challenges facing the government in the power sector included the issue of transmission and the need to find a mutually-agreed market rate for gas/electricity tariff.
Osinbajo, who said that as of Thursday, the country could not transmit more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, pointed out that there was the need to improve on the present arrangement.
He hinted that suggestions on conccessioning the present arrangement was being considered by the government.
He said in the face of current economic reality, there was need for the country to move beyond relying on just crude oil to source its revenue, even as he promised that the Buhari-led government would deliver on its many promises to Nigerians.
The vice-president said that the planned trip of President Buhari to China was aimed at seeking counterpart funding for the Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Calabar rail routes, which, he said, would go a long way in creating jobs and boosting the country’s economy, as most heavy goods, including fuel, would be lifted through rail system.
Speaking earlier, Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, said for Nigeria’s economy to improve, its leaders must have the courage to take difficult and tough decisions.
According to the governor, the nation’s economy was at a critical threshold and thus would require its leaders to think outside the box and come up with creative innovations that would trigger economic growth nationwide.
He lamented the fact that previous governments at the federal level failed to take advantage of the oil boom to grow other sectors of the economy, saying that the fall in price in the international oil market, coupled with many years of corruption, had made the economy vulnerable.
Also speaking, Governor Okorocha declared that Nigeria’s economy was not dead, but was only sick, saying it was good that the citizenry were beginning to understand the real problem.
Okorocha, who said there was the need to apply wisdom on the part of the leaders to initiate ideas to move the country forward, lauded the steps taken so far by the president in attending the economy through fight against corruption, declaring that it was time we did things differently in the country in order to get a better result.
According to the governor, there was the need to devolve powers from the centre, to enable the states and local governments, as well as communities, to take up some responsibilities as he likened Nigeria to a kwasiokor patient with very big head, small belly and two tiny legs.
He said the head represented the Federal Government, the belly, the states and the tiny legs, the local governments, wondering why states must go to Abuja to share allocations and what business the Federal Ministry of Agriculture that had no land to cultivate had with agriculture in the country.
“We must devolve power and make the community another tier of government,” he said.
In his opening remarks, chairman, Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation Newspaper, Wale Edun, said the forum was put together not just to lament the challenges facing the country, but for government and members of the critical sectors of the economy to dialogue and chart a way out.
Tribune.
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