A N923.87m Aso Rock Villa debt necessitated the decision of the Federal Government to build a N10 billion solar electricity project for the country’s seat of power, Aso Villa.
The Villa’s debt is part of a larger N47.1 billion annual Federal government electricity debt.
Addressing journalists on Friday, the Director General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Mustapha Abdullahi, explained that the initiative for the Villa project, was approved by President Bola Tinubu, as part of a strategic move to cut down on government expenditure and promote clean, sustainable energy.
“It is no longer sustainable for the government to keep paying over ₦47 billion yearly in electricity bills,” Abdullahi said.
A 2024 advertorial by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), titled ‘Notice of Disconnection’, revealed that the Presidential Villa alone owed ₦923.87 million in electricity charges. The notice threatened to disconnect power to Aso Rock and 86 other federal ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) over the ₦47.1 billion collective debt.
According to Abdullahi, the transition to solar energy aligns with President Tinubu’s broader energy diversification agenda, adding that the project would ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Villa, reduce reliance on the national grid, encourage innovation among Nigerian engineers, and create new job opportunities within the renewable energy sector.
But the decision to embark on the solar project has led to virulent criticisms on the social media, where Nigerians are lamenting that they are being left on their own by the President who is considering an alternative source of power supply while they are left to rest on a failed public power supply system.
