The Federal Government has said it will connect the entire Ogoni land in Rivers State to the national grid, even as it decries the slow pace of the clean up of oil polluted sites there.

The Minister of Environment, Muhammed Abdullahi, disclosed this during a town hall meeting with Ogoni stake holders, including monarchs, local government chairmen and youths in Tai Local Government Area on Thursday.

Abdullahi said connecting Ogoni to the national grid was part of efforts to expand the objectives of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project.

The move, he said, was imperative, in order to supply power to all the water infrastructure built by HYPREP in Ogoni land as well as for economic growth and sustainability in the area.

“Apart from the remediation that is being done by HYPREP, there is also the water project that we are working on. We realized that for the water project to be sustainable, there must be an enduring power supply.

“So, the federal government is expanding the objectives of the project mandate of HYPREP, to ensure that the entire Ogoni land is linked to the national grid”.