Total electrification of Nigeria has now become imperative
Nigeria s Minister of Power Saleh Mamman
The issue of 24 hours a day, seven days a week adequate electricity supply to all the villages, towns and cities in Nigeria has remained a matter of concern to many well meaning Nigerians ever since the country acquired self rule on 1 October 1960. The huge sums of money allocated to this sector have never been appropriately utilized because of the cancerous official corruption that has continued to eat deeply into the fabric of the Nigerian society, especially among the civil service and government agencies saddled with the responsibility of projects management.
The Coalition of Arewa Assembly has decried the alleged move to stop the provision of eligible customers (EC) in the Nigerian electricity market, appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari and his economic team to urgently wade into the matter to avert economic collapse.
By Ndubuisi Francis
The Coalition of Arewa Assembly has decried the alleged move to stop the provision of eligible customers (EC) in the Nigerian electricity market, appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari and his economic team to urgently wade into the matter to avert economic collapse.
The Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005 defines an ‘eligible customer’ as a customer that is eligible, pursuant to a directive or directives issued by the Minister of Power under Section 27, to purchase power from a licensee other than electricity distribution companies (discos).
A former Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, had on May 15, 2017, declared four categories of eligible customers in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
Electricity Generation Companies in the country (GenCos) have said Nigeria can generate 30,000 megawatts of electricity, meeting an earlier target set by the Federal Government.
The projection could however remain elusive without pragmatic framework, which must be implemented commercially and politically. Seven years after the electricity sector was privatized average generation has been dismal, hovering around 3,500WM although available capacity stands at about 8,000WM as at 2020.
The Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Joy Ogaji, said progress would be made if policymakers, regulators and relevant stakeholders join hands in recognising and paying for available capacity, going by extant pacts between GenCos investors and the Federal Government.