Members of the Senate, on Wednesday, strongly criticised the privatisation of Nigeria’s power sector, saying the model adopted in the transfer from public to private operators has failed.
The Senate, therefore, called for a review of the privatisation process to maximise the capacity of the power sector.
The lawmakers, while speaking on a motion by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi-West) titled ‘DISCOSs, Electricity Consumers and the Burden of Overbilling,’ lamented the failure of the power sector even after it had been privatised.
Seconding the motion, Senator Bukar Mustapha stated that the problem with the sector was inefficiency.
He said, “The problem we have is the inefficiency within the system which we have actually, so far, not decided to address. I will give you a small example: Nigeria has an installed capacity of 12,522 megawatts of power; we have non-available of 5,300MW; we have non-operational capacity of 3,180MW; meaning that the amount that is actually available is just over 4,000MW out of 12,500MW.
“We have transmission loss of 228MW and we have distribution loss of 447MW. At the end of the day, only 3,800MW reaches the consumer, and we have commercial loss of more than 36 per cent. So, what is actually being paid for out of the over 3,000MW is only 1,800MW.
“So, unless and until we decide to look at this inefficiency within the value chain, there is no way we can have better electricity generation, distribution and also billing system in the country. So, I agree that the model they have used for privatisation has not worked. And unless and until this inefficiency is looked at, it will not work.”
The senator further stated that if the sector had the capacity to generate 12,500 megawatts but it could only deliver 4,000MW, it meant that more than 75 per cent of the capacity had not been utilised.
He added, “It means that we are sitting on an emergency situation and something has to be done drastically to address this problem.
“The value chain is weakest at the distribution companies’ level because they are the ones who collect the money and you will never know how much money is being collected because they have failed to install the metres that are needed. We need millions of metres.”
Mustapha recalled that some lawmakers visited a meter testing facility on Monday “because each metre has to be tested but there is no capacity to test the millions of metres in Nigeria.”
According to him, the DISCOs are supposed to provide the meters but lack the fund and technical capacity to provide the devices. “So, it means we have to revisit this as urgently as possible,” he stated.
Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, ruled that the motion be stepped down pending the outcome of the probe by the Abaribe-led panel.
“It makes better sense that we consider the report and be free to make our comment based on the recommendations by the committee,” he said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Jonathan administration fraudulently gave the power sector to his cabals who lacked the expertise and knowledge of the power sector.There was no plans on the Discos part to invest in the sector,only plans they had was to continue billing Nigerians without supplying power.This is the main reason they have not embarked on allowing people who could afford to pay for the prepaid meters to do so
ReplyDeleteMy dear, you just said it as it is. I keep saying it, if Nigeria comes out of where Goodluck Jonathan kept us in 5years, Then we know it is just God that did it for Nigeria. The clueless man just tied Nigeria down to the dungeon.
DeleteWhat do u guys know about privatisation... Pls check ur dictionaries
DeleteFor how long will we continue the blame game? We currently have a new administration who has the powers for any decision making that will get Nigeria from its current state. Please let them use the powers and make necessary decisions to move our country forward. Its just a waste of time if we continue the blame game of GEJ.
DeleteAnonymous you are speaking from ignorance. In fact the winners of the privatisation of the electricity companies are the ones ruling today. Not Jonathan's cronies. Please check your facts.
DeleteFenk
ReplyDeleteThe only way out is cancellation of the looting arrangements made in favour of heartless criminals that never want Nigeria to progress.
ReplyDeleteThe bad economic situations in Nigeria will remain the same until Electricity and Water are given serious attentions.
For how long will we continue the blame game? We currently have a new administration who has the powers for any decision making that will get Nigeria from its current state. Please let them use the powers and make necessary decisions to move our country forward. Its just a waste of time if we continue the blame game of GEJ.
ReplyDeleteThe FG should cancel existing privatisation agreements and takeover fully. Then, the FG should spend money to supply meters in every house and put some infrastructure in place. The FG should privatise on 5 years lease basis, conditionally renewable.
ReplyDelete