Why ministries of works & housing exit national power grid, deploy solar project

The ministries of Works and Housing and Environment have moved away from receiving power supply from the national electricity grid. Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, announced that the ministries would henceforth get their power supply from a 1.5 megawatts solar micro-grid system, which was inaugurated at the Mabushi, Abuja headquarters of his ministry on Tuesday.

The Ministries of Environment, Works and Housing are all headquartered in Mabushi, Federal Capital Territory. Fashola said the solar power project was approved by the Federal Executive Council on March 20, 2019 at the time when the Federal Ministry of Power was part of the works and housing ministry.

He said the project employed 382 artisans and 176 skilled workers throughout its duration, as this was in fulfilment of the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of creating jobs.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said the solar grid project was in line with the Federal Government’s pursuit.

This, he said, was the case with other parts of the world, adding that the initiative was as a worthy option for other agencies of government to consider.