Power sector’s privatization: Fashola faults call for cancellation

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has faulted the call for the cancellation of privatisation of power sector.

Fashola said although he agreed that there were problems with privatization, four years was not enough to change what could not be done in 60 years in the electricity distribution sector.

He stated this at the third edition of National Council on Power (NACOP) with the theme: “Complementing power sector reforms” in Jos.

The minister said that stealing and vandalisation of electricity equipment was part of the challenges that Distribution Companies (DISCOs) were faced with.

Instead of passing a vote of no confidence on DISCOs, Fashola said the states should assist them in all possible ways. On allowing states to develop their own power plants, he said government did not stop any state from doing so.

He passionately appealed to residents to pay for energy they consumed while people should desist from pilfering electricity equipment.

He specifically urged state governments to empower the magistrate’s courts to punish those who bring down energy or damage equipment, as that would reduce the workload of the High Courts.

Fashola restated his call on the state governments and individuals to build their own power plants and solar energy.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc., Austin Avuru, said the power sector lost about N1 trillion to regulatory lacuna that disorganized the sector reform for 18 months that spread between 2015 and 2017.

He disclosed this in Port Harcourt at the seventh Emmanuel Egbogah legacy lecture series.

Avuru explained that the non-appointment of members of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) since December 2015 has eroded the gains made under the power sector reforms programme.

He added that the scenario has created operational indiscipline, truncated the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) and also created a huge liquidity gap of over N1trn.

The Seplat boss stressed the urgent need for Nigeria to stop treating the oil and gas sector as income earner but rather as an economic enabler that can stimulate the economic growth.

Meanwhile, Plateau Governor Simon Lalong has charged the Federal Government to complete the National Electrical Equipment Testing Laboratory, Bassa in view of its relevance to effective power supply.

Lalong gave the charge in Jos, in a keynote address at the third edition of the National Council on Power (NACOP) tagged “Completing Power Sector Reforms”, currently holding in Jos.

“The laboratory will ensure effective testing and certification of electrical assets and equipment before use, which will guide against the use of substandard components,” he said.

He said that the project, which was abandoned in 1990, should be completed and put to use to minimise incidences of disasters caused by electricity sparks.

The governor also appealed to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, to use his office to quickly replace the 150MVA transformer, which was razed down by fire at the Jos transmission sub-station, last week.

He said that the transformer needed to be replaced to avoid the consequences which included total darkness to the four states – Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe and Benue – covered by the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC).

Mr Wuyep Ja’afaru, Commissioner, Ministry of Water Resources and Energy, who presented a paper on Plateau State Policy and Strategy on Renewable Energy, said that the policy represented government’s commitment to improving the lives of citizens.

Ja’afaru said that decentralised electrification technologies like embedded generation, extension of distribution grids, mini grids and stand alone systems, powered by renewable energies, would be used to supply electricity in the state.

He added that other sources like solar, wind, bio mass and small hydro, generally backed up by conventional generational sources that are already used, like the chemical storage, shall be used as transitory solutions to supply electricity reliably.