President Bola Tinubu is expected to deliver an address at the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Silver Jubilee scheduled to hold in Kaduna from November 20 to 22.
According to the Secretary of the Main Organising Committee, Mallam Bukar Zarma, preparations for the event are in top gear, with prominent leaders from across the country expected to attend the celebration at Murtala Muhammed Square.
Zarma said business mogul Alhaji Aliko Dangote will deliver the keynote address, while several notable Southern leaders have also been invited to participate in the anniversary.
He added that highlights of the occasion will include the conferment of the Arewa Lifetime Achievement Award on three distinguished Northerners and the launch of the ACF Endowment Fund.
Reaffirms commitment to power reforms
Meanwhile, Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to improving electricity supply across the country, describing power as central to Nigeria’s economic transformation and the well-being of its citizens.
The President made this known during a meeting with a delegation from Siemens Energy, led by its Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Dietmar Siersdorfer, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Tinubu stated that his government is prioritising power sector development to drive growth in industry, education, healthcare, and transportation.
“There is no industrial growth or economic development without power. I believe that power is the most significant discovery of humanity in the last 1,000 years,” he said.
He commended Siemens Energy and the German government for their continued collaboration under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), stressing that the project’s completion would give Nigeria “a place of pride on the continent” by unlocking its vast human and material potential.
“We appreciate the support and commitment of the German government and Siemens. The investment you are making and your commitment align with the future of this country. Our education, healthcare, and transportation all depend on energy, and without power, it is an impossible objective. We are taking it very seriously,” Tinubu added.
The President directed that some major transformer substations be expanded from two to three phases to boost national power supply.
“We are all inspired and happy. This is what we want to achieve on the continent—the glory of our economic recovery and banishment of poverty,” he said.
According to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, the sector has achieved several milestones, including decentralisation and liberalisation following the enactment of the Electricity Act 2023.
He said the new National Integrated Electricity Policy had attracted more than $2.2 billion in fresh investments and activated 15 state electricity markets.
Adelabu explained that since the Accelerated Agreement was signed at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, significant progress had been made under the PPI.
He noted that Siemens Energy had delivered and commissioned 10 units of 132/33kV mobile substations, three 75/100MVA transformers, and seven 60/66 MVA transformers, adding 984MW of transmission capacity nationwide.
He disclosed that the Federal Executive Council had approved the commencement of the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract for Phase One, Batch One of the PPI, which covers five key substations in Abeokuta, Offa, Ayede-Ibadan, Sokoto, and Onitsha. Two of these are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
