Governors to meet on March 23 over ‘ineffective power sector’

The 36 state governors will meet on March 23 to discuss pressing national concerns, with particular focus on the power sector.

The meeting, which will be held virtually at 2pm, is the third of its kind in 2022.

In a statement issued on Friday, Asishana Okauru, director-general of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said Aliyu Abubakar, minister of power, will be in attendance.

There has been power outage in the country in recent times, with the national grid said to have collapsed at least twice within the past week.

Okauru said Doyin Salami, chief economic adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, has also been invited to the meeting to brief the governors on his “new perspectives” on  Nigeria’s economy.

“As a reaction to the lingering power sector ineffectiveness of the last couple of weeks, power projects’ delivery across the states will dominate their conversation when Governors meet on Wednesday,” the statement reads.

“The 36 Governors will be seeking to know in which direction he will be rolling the economy.

“Another critical sector that the Governors will be deliberating upon is health care delivery in the country. The health minister, Dr Osagie Ehanire, will be briefing the Governors on oxygen supply and the rehabilitation of general hospitals.

“Another top official of the health sector that will be meeting the governors at the meeting is the executive director and CEO of the NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, who will be briefing the Governors on the forthcoming Primary Health Care Summit, 2022.

“There will also be the regular briefings from SFTAS and the CARERS programmes on which the Governors are expected to be updated.”