TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the composition of a power sector reform coordination group under the leadership of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

In a statement, Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, said the new working group will incorporate the ongoing efforts of his committee to ensure all power sector initiatives are on the same page.

El-Rufai was appointed as the head of the ad-hoc committee reviewing the ownership of the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in November.

According to the statement, membership of the group comprises el-Rufai, Abba Kyari, chief of staff to the president; Sale Mamman, minister of power, and Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance.

Others are Godwin Emefiele, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Ahmad Zakari, special adviser to the president on infrastructure, who also functions as the secretary of the group.

“This new presidential working group will coordinate ad-hoc committee and other efforts on a national scale, and report progress fortnightly to Mr. President,” the governor said.

“The presidential working group, which will meet weekly, commenced work at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, at a meeting at which the Vice President presided.

“The key objective of the working group is to harmonise various efforts by the Federal Government and the 36 States, through the National Economic Council (NEC), on power sector reform and to oversee the design and implementation of a well-coordinated roadmap for the sector.

“The national working group will support critical financing initiatives with the World Bank Group, DFID and other key development partners. The group will also ensure that ongoing Federal and State initiatives are in sync with the Presidential Power Initiative being implemented with the German government and Siemens, and infrastructure investments of the TCN and the Ministry of Power.”