Kalu launches solar lighting project for 42,000 Bende households, distributes 26 transformers

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu has launched a solar lighting project targeting 42,000 households in Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State, alongside the distribution of 26 electricity transformers to improve access to power across the area.

The initiative, known as the Renewed Hope Light Up Project, covers the constituency’s 13 electoral wards and combines household solar power with efforts to connect communities and businesses to the national electricity grid.

Kalu flagged off the second phase of the project on Monday, October 26, saying a needs assessment conducted across the constituency identified poor electricity access as a major challenge affecting economic activities, security, job creation and human development.

The Deputy Speaker said the intervention was designed to provide alternative electricity for households while supporting small businesses that depend on the national grid to operate equipment such as refrigerators and welding machines.

According to him, each of Bende’s 13 wards will receive two transformers, with their locations determined by electricity needs rather than political considerations.

Kalu urged community leaders to ensure the transformers are installed in locations where they can serve the greatest number of residents and warned against diverting or tampering with the equipment.

He said the solar lighting scheme was also intended to help children study at night and enable families to power fans and charge mobile phones without relying on kerosene lanterns.

The project will be implemented in batches of 10,000 households. Kalu disclosed that 1,000 solar units had already been distributed as an initial rollout, with the first batch expected to be completed within two weeks before the next phase begins.

He added that the solar systems were designed to last for 10 years and would be covered by a maintenance arrangement to address faults, provided beneficiaries did not damage the equipment.

To monitor distribution and prevent diversion, Kalu said the installations would be geo-located and programmed through an application, ensuring that units assigned to specific communities remain within their designated locations.

The lawmaker said the project received approval from President Bola Tinubu after he presented the number of households requiring electricity support in the constituency.

Kalu described the initiative as part of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which he said seeks to improve living conditions and economic opportunities at the community level.

Beyond the solar installations and transformer distribution, Kalu signed a ₦100 million contract with an electricity company for the restoration of power to Item and Alayi wards, which he said had been disconnected for years.

The restoration project is expected to complement the broader intervention by addressing electricity supply problems in communities affected by prolonged outages.