Jonathan will achieve uninterrupted power supply –Presidency

The Presidency has said President Goodluck Jonathan will not compromise on his promise to give Nigerians uninterrupted power supply, saying delivering 24-hour electricity to the citizens is a key component of the administration.

Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, stated this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.

Okupe said some parts of the country had started experiencing improved power supply and that other parts of the country would soon begin to enjoy the same improvement.

Okupe’s statement came a day after the country experienced serious drop in the total amount of electricity generated in the country.

From the 4,000 mega watts the Federal Government had claimed it was generating, the country was said to be generating about 2,628.6 at the weekend.

Okupe said the summary of the survey, carried out by the NOI for the month of July “shows that 53 per cent of Nigerians, sampled in the exercise, expressed satisfaction with the President’s performance, with the majority of respondents attributing the high approval rating to improvement in power supply across the country.”

The NOI Polls Limited, according to Wikipedia, is an opinion polling and research organisation, established by the incumbent Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The company was set up in collaboration with the Gallup Organisation, to be used as a representation of Nigerian public opinion. The NOI Polls is named after its creator, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Okupe said, “The organisation’s findings, which have been published by a few media outfits, indicate that more respondents from the North-Central, North-East, South-East and South-South geo-political zones, experienced varying degrees of improvement in power supply compared to what obtained in previous months.

“While we acknowledge the positive indicators in NOI’s survey with regards to the approval rating of Mr. President’s performance by majority of Nigerians, we wish to assure that the President will not rest on his oars regarding the promise he made to Nigerians on provision of uninterrupted power supply as a key component of the Transformation Agenda.”

The Presidential aide said the improvement in power supply, noticed and acknowledged in some parts of the country, was due partly to measures put in place by the government to reduce points of leakages and transmission failure.

Okupe said by the time most of the hydro power dams, which he said were currently been rehabilitated, resumed operations in September 2013, most Nigerian cities would have more hours of power supply from the national grid.

He said this would undoubtedly improve social and economic activities, increase industrial productions, and create jobs for young Nigerians.