The Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission, (HYPPADEC), has announced the admission of Kaduna, Nasarawa, Taraba and Gombe into the membership of the Commission.
The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Abubakar Yelwa, disclosed this at a 5-day capacity building workshop on social standards executive short course held in Kaduna yesterday.
The workshop was themed: ‘Social Standard Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Necessary for Effective Community Engagement and Sustainable Rural Development’.
It was organised by the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi’s Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Centre of Excellence, for 86 executive participants drawn from member states.
According to the HYPPADEC boss, the admission of the States into the membership of the commission followed President Bola Tinubu signing into law the New Electricity Act recently passed by the National Assembly.
He noted that with the additional four States, the Commission now had 10 member States, made up of over one thousand and eight hundred (1,800) communities, spread across Benue, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, and Plateau States.
He recalled that the establishment of the commission was entirely against the background of the devastation of the communities of member states due to the negative effects of the operations of hydro dams in which many lives and property were damaged.
Yelwa also explained that the objective of the training workshop was to enhance participants’ skills and knowledge of the global best practices for community engagement with a view to promoting efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery.
This was just as he announced the management decision to create a new Agricultural Division in the Directorate of Community, noting that the development was a significant increase in the scope of work and responsibility for the Directorate, which he described as the backbone of the Commission.
