President Good­luck Jonathan yesterday laid the foundation for the $800m Ihovbor/ Orior/Osemwende power project in Uhumwode Lo­cal Government Area of Edo State.
The Azura-Edo Indepen­dent Power Project(IPP), which is expected to gener­ate 450MW of electricity in its first phase and 1, 500 MW of electricity to the na­tional grid when fully com­pleted, is being sponsored by Azura Power Holding and Edo State Government.
President Jonathan, in his speech, said the Azura proj­ect demonstrated that his administration has laid a strong foundation for build­ing a sound and sustainable electricity industry, even as he pledged his commit­tment to irreversibly repo­sition the Nigerian power sector as a pivot for the at­tainment of the nation’s de­velopmental targets.
He said his administra­tion was maintaining a pol­icy push for increased di­versification of the nation’s energy as well as expanding investments in large hydro power projects through public-private partnerships, and the provision of neces­sary support to accelerate the exploitation of the na­tion’s coal resources.
He assured that the Fed­eral Government would continue to ensure that the growth of the electricity industry becomes self-sus­taining and sustainable.
“My administration is fully committed to continu­ously improving the frame­work and enabling environ­ment based on sound policy formulation, access to long-term low interest finance, and transparent and consis­tent regulator guidelines.
In his remark, Edo State Governor, Comrade Ad­ams Oshiomhole said the $800m investment showed that Nigeria remained the safest country in Africa.
He added that the gains of privatizing the power sector was being realised with private sector having confidence in the sector.

Jonathan lays foundation for $800m Azura-Edo IPP project