THE Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola has defended his position on the challenges bedevilling the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) as well as his recent policy directive to electricity distribution companies (DisCos) on improved service delivery.
Fashola also maintained that his figures on capacity increase generation and transmission was accurate saying electricity consumers can attest to the difference between 2015 and 2018.
The Minister at a briefing on the Power Sector State of Play, Next Steps and Policy Directions had accused the DisCos of contributing to the majority of the challenges in the sector.
He also touched on issues bothering on estimated billings, market shortfall, infrastructure deficits, metering even as he gave policy directives to this effect.
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As a result, the 11 DisCos under the umbrella of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) countered the Minister’s claims, accusing him of deliberate attempt to discredit them in the public sphere.
Its Director of Advocacy and Research, Barrister Sunday Oduntan also faulted Fashola disclosure on a stranded 2,000MWs which the DisCos are unable to distribute due to infrastructure deficit.
He said the liquidity crisis in the sector was due to regulatory restrictions which were against some agreements made with the DisCos upon privatisation.
However, in a worded statement issued by the Minister, he said: “….for the allegation that figures of power generation and distribution released by me are not true, the taste of the pudding lies with those who eat it. Electricity consumers know what their experience was in 2015, 2016, 2017 and today.
“These figures have been released many months back when we reached those milestones as part of my monthly report and roadmap of incremental power.”
He also denied assertions that his directives were political saying: “…to suggest therefore that my directives were political, turns reality on its head; because for the past 20 months, in all my public briefings at monthly meetings with the DisCos, these same issues of service delivery of meters, estimated billings, investment in distribution equipment by DisCos have dominated my remarks.
“However, assuming this was not so, does the onset of elections preclude the quest for better service or continued Governance? If Mr Oduntan represents the DisCos who, for reasons best known to them, choose not to act to save their investments, that is a matter of choice for them.”
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In another development, the DisCos disclosed that its losses averagely N48 per kilowatt hour (KWH) of electricity due to non-review of the tariff in the past 30 months.
It said the suspension of the tariff which ought to be reviewed every six months by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) under the Minister of Power, Works and Housing has added to performance issues in a capital-intensive power sector.
“Through the regulatory and policy actions that have been principally driven by the Minister, the DisCos have been forced to sell their product which should retail for an average retail tariff that is more than N80/kWh, at an average retail price of N32/kWh,” the DisCos said.
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