Governor Umaru Bago has called on the Federal Government to allocate 13 percent derivation to Niger State for providing electricity power to Nigerians through four hydropower generating dams situated in the state.
Bago stated this when he recieved the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Tijjani Ahmed, who led other principal officials to the Government House in the state capital, Minna.
The governor suggested a round table discussion on the way out or the Government of Niger State might cut off the supply of power from the hydro dams until its demands are met.
Bago decried the rate at which residents of the state have been ravaged and displaced due to overflow of water from the activities of hydroelectric dams.
He also said organisations like Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited should equally pay the state for hydrocarbon exchange.
The governor further highlighted that the state has done a lot for the country including ceding of its land for the creation of the nation’s capital, Abuja, hence the need for the Federal Government to compensate the state for it.
He also expressed dismay over the Suleja-Minna road dualization project awarded in the last 12 years, and it is yet to be completed even though the state is a gateway between the northern and southern parts of the country, describing it as unacceptable.
The governor said the state will no longer allow itself to be marginalised stressing that “enough is enough”.
He reiterated that the state government will continue to push its demands until the Federal Government gives it the desired attention.
