The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has launched a solar electrification project targeting 42,000 households in Abia State’s Bende Federal Constituency, along with the distribution of 26 transformers and the signing of a ₦100 million contract to restore electricity to two wards that have been disconnected from the national grid for years.

Kalu flagged off the second phase of the Renewed Hope Light Up Project on Monday, designed to improve access to electricity across the constituency’s 13 electoral wards.

The project has two components: the installation of solar lighting systems in homes without reliable electricity and the provision of transformers to connect communities and small businesses to the national grid.

Speaking at the ceremony, Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, said a constituency-wide needs assessment identified lack of electricity as one of the major challenges affecting economic activities, security, job creation, and human capital development.

“In the course of doing needs analysis, we discovered that one of our greatest problems in this federal constituency is darkness, lack of access to power, and that has affected our economic life, the security life of the community, human capacity development and job creation,” he said.

He explained that the initiative was designed to translate President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda into practical benefits for rural communities.

“What we are here to do is to drive that vision home by making it a mission that our people can feel, touch and experience. Light before now to many homes in Bende seemed to be a luxury. That has been demystified,” he said.

Kalu disclosed that the project received President Tinubu’s approval after he presented the plan to provide solar lighting to 42,000 households, particularly to enable children to study at night without kerosene lanterns and allow families to power fans and charge mobile phones.

He said the solar lights would be distributed in batches of 10,000 households, adding that 1,000 units had already been distributed to beneficiaries drawn from the constituency’s 13 electoral wards.

According to him, the first batch of 10,000 installations is expected to be completed within two weeks, after which the next batch will commence.

The Deputy Speaker said each solar unit was expected to serve beneficiaries for 10 years under a maintenance arrangement with the installation company.

“The people handling this have said that this particular solar will serve our people for 10 good years, which means you are not going to look for kerosene to power your lanterns in 10 good years, or look for where to charge your phone or power your fan,” he said.

He added that the installations would be geo-located and monitored through an application to ensure accountability and prevent diversion of the equipment to locations outside their designated areas.
Kalu described the project as an unprecedented intervention in a single federal constituency, claiming that it would provide solar power to 42,000 homes.

Beyond household lighting, he said the distribution of 26 transformers was intended to address electricity needs affecting small and medium-scale enterprises across Bende.

He explained that while the solar systems would provide alternative energy for households, businesses requiring electricity to operate refrigerators, welding machines, and other equipment needed access to the national grid.

Kalu said the transformers would be allocated according to electricity needs rather than political considerations, urging community leaders to ensure that they were installed at locations where they could serve the greatest number of residents.

“The decision on where they will be located will not be based on sentiment and will not be political. It will be a needs-influenced decision based on lack of access to electricity,” he said.

He also urged traditional rulers, youth groups and presidents-general of town unions to protect the transformers against vandalism and other forms of interference.
The lawmaker stressed that the facilities were intended to benefit all residents of Bende, irrespective of political affiliation.

“These transformers do not know the colour of political parties. They will serve everyone that I am representing,” he said.

In a related development, Kalu signed a ₦100 million contract with the electricity company responsible for installing the transformers to restore electricity to Item and Alayi wards, which he said had been without power for years.

The intervention comes amid efforts to expand electricity access in communities where inadequate power supply continues to constrain household activities, commercial operations and local economic development.
Kalu also thanked constituents for electing him to represent them, saying the projects were part of his efforts to address their needs.

Some representatives of the 13 electoral wards and presidents-general of town unions who attended the event praised his representation and pledged support for Kalu and President Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.