The reluctance of the Federal Government to pay N52 billion compensation to owners of property acquired in Akwa Ibom State is said to be responsible for the delay in providing transmission lines to boost power supply.

Disclosing this when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel visited him in Uyo, Governor Godswill Akpabio said the contractor handling the project admitted non-inclusion of the compensation sum in the overall project cost. He described such omission as a serious oversight in policy making, wondering why the previous administration spent $10 million on power supply without a corresponding effect on the sector.

Harping on the need for the federal government to allow states to establish their independent stations as the surest way of having steady and sustainable power supply, the governor pointed out that lack of electricity impacts negatively on the industrialisation of any country. He expressed surprise that Ghana which is not as rich as Nigeria marked two years of uninterrupted power supply recently. He, therefore, challenged the National Assembly to brace up to the task of generating constant power supply in the country.

Akpabio used the occasion to announce that his administration is concentrating on the dualisation of Uyo-Oron Road in a bid to accelerate the pace of industrialisation and evacuation of goods in the state.

The Governor commended the National Assembly for passing the On-Shore/Off-Shore Dichotomy bill into law, which Mr. President has assented to, saying the law had helped a great deal in redressing the injustice against the Niger Delta people.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu had said the tour was necessitated by the recent resolution of the House to probe activities in the power sector, on which much had been expended without commensurate result.