Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, has described the Rural and Electrification Agency (REA) as an outstanding establishment.

He noted that the agency has performed satisfactorily and deserved commendation, having impacted several rural communities in all of Nigeria’s six geo-political zones.

Expressing confidence in the competence of the Managing Director, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, the minister urged him to remain focused on the assignment at hand for the overall development of the country.

Speaking with journalists, Jedy-Agba noted: “For us to move forward in a sector as critical as this, we need reforms, and that is what this agency has been doing.”

He charged government to encourage REA’s works and treat it as a ‘star agency’ with enormous potential.

He added: “I just want to say to you that REA is my star agency. It’s directly under my supervision and purview. I want to assure you that in all the six geopolitical zones of this country, we have had two projects in each state. There’s no community in any of the geo-political zones where we don’t have rural solar light intervention. We’ve had solar panels, we have mini-grids and all of that in all the zones.

“For me, that agency is a star agency, it is a high-performing agency. I don’t talk about individuals, I’m talking about the agency itself and the outputs. All of us in this room come from communities, we are from different states here, but if you name your state, I will tell you which local government and which community we have impacted.

“I am convinced that the agency has performed satisfactorily in my judgment. Your judgment may be superior to mine, but I know it is a star agency that deserves special attention.”

In terms of impact, REA is implementing one of the biggest electrification projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), with funding from the World Bank and African Development Bank, with over five million Nigerians already benefiting from the project.

Also, as part of efforts to catalyse off-grid electrification, the agency, in the last three years, completed the first REF Call, delivering 12 solar hybrid mini-grids and over 19,000 solar home systems. As for REF Call 2, projects are ongoing to deliver 51 additional solar hybrid mini-grids.

Furthermore, through its Energising Education Programme, REA has delivered solar hybrid power plants in seven universities under the first phase of the initiative. Developers are already on site to deliver on the task of powering several fresh universities and two teaching hospitals under phase 2 of the project.

Besides, through stakeholders’ engagements, plans are underway to power eight additional federal universities and a teaching hospital.

Another critical project birthed during the COVID-19 pandemic and activated through the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) is the Solar Power Naija programme. Through funding from the Central Bank of Nigeria, upon completion, the project would add five million additional renewable energy connections, impacting about 25 million Nigerians.