Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has assured the people of the state that the government has put machinery in place to ensure adequate and uninterrupted power supply before the end of his administration.
The governor gave the assurance while receiving the 20 graduates of National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) from Ekiti state who came to express appreciation to him in his office.
Fayemi lamented the poor power supply to the state by Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
He said his administration had concluded plans with the Federal Government to build two 132/133 KVA Substations in Ekiti to boost electricity generation and transmission.
He said that plans were also being concluded on a new Independent Power Project (IPP) initiative aimed at repositioning the sector for effective service delivery.
Fayemi said his administration was determined to continue to ensure capacity development of Ekiti people, especially the youth in key areas of development of which power distribution “is number one’’.
The governor said his administration would review vacancy situations in Ekiti State Electricity Board first, and later the Independent Power Project with a view to absorbing the youth into the state civil service.
“If there is one area that we are unhappy about in terms of our development in the state, it is the availability of electricity. We have been on it from day one.
“Anything that advances our objectives of lightning up Ekiti state, we will always be enthusiastic about it and that is why for us you are exemplars.”
Earlier, the Director-General of the Office of Transformation and Service Delivery (OTSD), Prof. Bolaji Aluko, commended the governor for giving Ekiti youth the opportunity to develop themselves in their various areas of specialisation.
He said that the state had ambitious plans for energy and power, adding that the trained persons would form a formidable group of people to bring that to realisation.
Mr. Aluko expressed the hope that the government would retain as many of them as possible into the state civil service to strengthen the power drive of the state government.
The leader of the team, Jamiu Ahmed expressed appreciation of the beneficiaries to the state governor for his efforts at human capital development.
He appealed to the governor to further assist them for job placements to make use of the knowledge they had acquired to bring improvement to the electricity sector of the state.