•Lawmakers plan stiffer penalties for electricity asset vandals
The government also stated that the noticeable improvement in electricity supply in parts of the country was not an accident, but due to recent efforts of the Bola Tinubu administration.
Speaking in Abuja, during an oversight visit by the House of Representatives Committee on Power, Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, explained that the lawmakers must continue to pile pressure on the executive to ensure that debts owed players in the sector were paid.
Adelabu said, “In terms of markets and liquidity, government is also owing these companies, but they have started paying them little by little. Just about three weeks ago, out of the about N1.3 trillion we are owing the Generation Companies (Gencos), we were able to pay them N205 billion. And they are also happy.
“But I will plead with the members of the House committee to help us mount pressure on the executive to continue to pay these people.”
The minister explained that with the current economic hardship in the country, including fuel scarcity, Nigerians must not be made to face another national blackout which would further reduce their quality of life.
He stated that Nigeria needed to renew the infrastructure in the power sector, and rejig the current tariff policy, maintaining that all the segments of the power sector need to be worked on.
According to him, “A lot of the towers are falling. The substations are dilapidated with very old transformers, some of them were installed in the 60s. We have not been able to replace them. The same thing with distribution infrastructure. The substations at the distribution level are also not working properly.”
Describing the metering gap as wide, Adelabu stated that out of over 12 million electricity customers nationwide, just a little over five million were metered, leaving a gap of over seven million meters.
He said the mandate of the ministry was to achieve the installation of two million meters on a yearly basis for the next five years, and expressed the hope that the sector that was hitherto deemed to be jinxed in the last 15 years was fast coming back.
On the Siemens project, Adelabu stated that the pilot phase was being gradually rounded off, stressing that several equipment from the project are already being installed nationwide.
He said, “We went to Germany together and we had a meeting with the German Chancellor that we needed to accelerate implementation of the presidential power initiative, which you all know as Siemens project.
“And the following month, we had a meeting in Dubai and we signed an acceleration agreement to ensure that we continued with this project. And I can tell you, within one year, we have almost concluded the pilot phase of this project.
“The pilot phase included importation, commissioning, and installation of 10 power transformers across Nigeria, 10 power mobile substations across Nigeria. So the improvement you see today is not accidental. It’s not due to rainfall.
“Hydroelectric power in Nigeria today is just a bit over 20 per cent of our total power generated. The remaining almost 80 per cent is from gas. So it’s not rain, but by the intentional activities of the federal government through the ministry of power. That’s why we are seeing all those improvements.”
In his remarks, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Power, Hon. Victor Nwokolo, urged the minister to ensure that Nigeria did not fall below the 5,000mw it recently achieved.
Nwokolo said without electricity supply, many companies will shut down, with the attendant loss of jobs, thereby making insecurity even worse.
He proposed that there should be stricter laws against power assets vandalism, which had become a menace in recent times.
The lawmaker also insisted that regarding the recent increment in tariff for selected customers, due process was not followed, and that was why the lawmakers opposed the move.
He stated, “If you look at the electricity act, it said that increment in tariff must be phased over a period of time. Above all, it must be gazetted in different languages. Meaning that there must be adverts, there must be consultations, there must be town hall meetings here and there.”
He stated that the federal lawmakers were looking at ways to end the destruction of power assets nationwide.
“We were also looking at some amendments where we have to bring very stiff punishment for vandals, not just those who are buying it. So, there are a lot of amendments that will still come,” Nwokolo said.
He suggested the incorporation of local vigilance groups into the security of electricity assets to protect them from vandals. (Thisday)
