Igbeaku Orji 
Abia State Government, on Friday, holds a roundtable meeting with the management of COSCHARIS Group with a view to rolling out electric vehicles for its transport sector.
Governor Alex Otti foresees a near future when electric vehicles will take over the transportation system and wants to lead with the urban cities of Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia, disclosed this in a meeting with the Founder, President, and CEO of COSCHARIS Group Dr Cosmas Maduka and his team,
According to the state government, “Our decision to go electric was a well thought out decision; we didn’t just jump into it; we looked at everything.”
The Governor explained that electric vehicles have several advantages over fossil fuel ones as they are environment friendly, economical and easier to maintain, which he said was among the reasons some European countries had decided to phase out fossil fuel vehicles from 2030. “What it just tells you is that, at some point, whether today or tomorrow it will happen.”
He argued that aside from the economics, electric vehicles use renewable energy far cleaner than CNG vehicles, which use fossil fuel.
On the availability of power for charging the vehicles, which would pose a major challenge, the Governor expressed hope that Geometric Power currently covering the Aba ring fence of nine local government areas, would soon take full control of the entire State to end the issue of power supply shortage.
He also revealed that a lot was being done to resolve the issues with the Alaoji Power plant, under the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to produce excess power and distribute it to other parts of the country.
“So, there is no State that is as well positioned as we are to push for electric vehicles. When we looked at it, we felt that it is a way to go”.
Earlier, the CEO of COSCHARIS Group, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, thanked Governor Otti for choosing them as partners, affirming that they have the required expertise having been in the automobile business for about five decades.
“Let me simply say that you are discussing with the right organization in this project in the sense that this is the area where we have experience. We have been in existence for over five decades and all our core businesses have been in automobile”.
He reaffirmed interest in the project, emphasizing that Electric Vehicles were globally the rave of the moment and encouraged Abia to lead other States to discover its preference.
