Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has announced plans to establish a state-owned independent electricity framework, following the recent constitutional amendment of the Electricity Act.

Zulum made the declaration on Friday during a high-level meeting with the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Abubakar Aliyu, at the council chamber of the Government House in Maiduguri.

Zulum stated that his administration is now in the advanced planning stages to create a Borno State-owned electricity outfit.

“I am very much aware of the new Electricity Act section 152/153, which clearly states that electricity is now under the concurrent legislative list. This is something very important. I have started working on it. A draft memorandum has been submitted to me on how the state will establish its own electricity outfit,” Zulum said.

“We have invested hugely in the solar system. I believe that most of our health facilities are solar-powered, and many of our schools, especially the Mega Schools, are also solar-powered. In the area of water supply, we have our water treatment plant, which is run by solar power. Then, coming to our industrial park, we have 5 megawatts of solar energy.”

“Borno is one of the states that has invested in solar power generation; we have established, along with several mini solar stations,” the governor noted.

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, stated that they are in Maiduguri as part of the agency’s efforts to implement the rural electricity supply framework.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary to the Borno State Government, Bukar Tijani; the Head of Service, Dr Muhammad Ghuluze; members of the state executive council; and other senior officials.