The House of Representatives has decided to investigate Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) regarding the utilization of renewable energy grants received from 2015 to the present. As a result, the House has tasked its Committee on Renewable Energy with conducting the inquiry. The committee is expected to present its findings to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.
This development came after the House adopted a motion presented by Jesse Onuakalusi on the “necessity to scrutinize investments in the Renewable Energy Sector and the Foreign Grants acquired from 2015 to the present.”Onuakalusi highlighted that in December 2023, the World Bank sanctioned $750 million in funding to enhance Renewable Energy in Nigeria, aiming to provide improved access to electricity for more than 17.5 million Nigerians through distributed Renewable Energy solutions.
Furthermore, in 2020, the federal government initiated a $200 million renewable energy initiative known as the ‘Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP)’ to deliver off-grid energy to over 500,000 individuals across 105,000 households in rural communities in Nigeria, with funding sourced from the African Development Bank (AfDB). Onuakalusi also pointed out that the Rural Electrification Agency reported attracting over $2 billion in renewable energy investments in the past decade without significant progress.
Despite these substantial investments and foreign grants aimed at developing the renewable energy sector and enhancing the power supply, Onuakalusi expressed concern over the lack of visible impact from renewable energy sources on the national grid. He emphasized that the ineffective electricity generation and supply system persist, contradicting the government’s purposeful investments and grants intended to advance the renewable energy sector.
