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  • CBN, DisCos to face Reps panel over $321m, N18.2b electricity project loans

    CBN, DisCos to face Reps panel over $321m, N18.2b electricity project loans

    The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has summoned the Central Bank of Nigeria and the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) over $321 million and N18.2 billion loans for the accelerated transmission distribution interface, lines and substation projects.

    They are to appear before the Committee the Committee on November 8.

    Committee Chairman Bamidele Salam handed down the summon when the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Abdulaziz, appeared before the committee on yesterday.

    Salam hinted that a petition was received on the lack of judicious use of the funds, which were paid to the DisCos by the CBN on the prompting of the TCN.

    Abdulaziz told the committee that the funds were paid directly to the DisCos by the CBN to embark on the various projects.

    He said the repayment of the loans was from the revenue of the TCN. The panel felt uncomfortable with the repayment arrangement.

    Salam asked TCN to provide details of disbursement of the loans, procurement process, how many DisCos were involved, the stage of the projects, and the structure of the repayment of the loans to the beneficiaries of the loan.

    He said: “Sometime in 2021, former President Muhammadu Buhari granted that certain funds be made available for the purpose of enhancing the capacity of our transmission and distribution lines to be able to have a more robust power sector intervention and these funds were made available for certain projects to the distribution companies.

    “It is the concern of the petitioner that the fund have not been judiciously used and that the project ought to have been delivered by now upon which we caused a letter to be written to the TCN, which also sent in a response stating the status report of the project as well as the procedure for the implementation of that loan disbursement and execution of the project by the distribution companies.

    “Our concern is to ensure that all our institutions work well in accordance with the law and in accordance with global best practices and to ensure money is judiciously utilised.”

    Abdulaziz said there was a gap in the electricity sector and the distribution companies were complaining that the TCN was not giving them supply.

    He said there was a need to invest in some projects so that the distribution companies would be able to distribute light.

    Read Also: Imo/Bayelsa/Kogi polls: Tinubu appeals for free, fair process

    He said: “But it was observed that TCN does not have that amount to do those projects, so the FG involved the CBN as the people to finance the projects. NERC being the regulator now is the one leading the exercise. TCN is just a beneficiary of the project. It is signed by the DISCOs. In TCN there is a Project Monitoring Office that was set up to do this procurement.”

    TCN Market Operator, Edmond Eje, said the NERC oversaw engagement between TCN and 11 DisCos to align on a list of critical interface projects that would significantly increase TCN’s capacity to unlock DisCos energy demand in critical load centres.

    He said a total of 125 projects were identified and agreed upon in the tripartite engagement.

    Eje said: “The Commission approved the project list of 125 projects as well as the securing of financing from the CBN for the same project to the tune of about N122.3 billion in loan.

    “The TCN and the 11 distribution companies set up a multi stakeholder project management office that was responsible for undertaking the procurement and eventual monitoring and evaluation of the project to implement the DisCo intervention.

    “DisCos are the beneficiaries and took it on behalf of TCN to execute projects. At the end of the day, it was scheduled that from TCN’s revenue, these loans would be amortiSed from source.

    “In order words on monthly basis, each of these monies sent to the contractors would be amortiSed though our revenue.”  

  • DisCos undercapitalised by N2tr, says president

    DisCos undercapitalised by N2tr, says president

    President Bola  Tinubu yesterday said preliminary analysis has indicated that the 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) are undercapitalised to the tune of N2 trillion.

      He said the Federal Government must facilitate the recapitalisation to bring in new partners and capital to jumpstart performance in distribution, which is a critical component to the entire power sector value chain.

    “Poor performance must not continue to drag the sector down. All licensees must not only have the technical capacity to deliver on their license but must have the financial muscles to invest to improve their operations.

    “Preliminary analysis shows that DisCos are undercapitalised to the tune of at least N2 trillion. We must facilitate for the reorganisation of the sector, the subsector and the recapitalisation process that brings new partners and capital to  jumpstart performance in this critical sector of the value chain,” he said.

    The President, who was represented by the Office of the Vice President, Special Adviser to the President on Energy and Power Infrastructure, Mr. Sodiq Wanka, spoke at the 10th Anniversary of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) Market Participants and Stakeholder Roundtable in Abuja.

    According to President Tinubu, the reasons for the underperformance of the sector in the last decade are well known to be governance and operation issues that have bedeviled the sector. He noted that as at Q2 2023, for every kWh of electricity sent to the grid, only 60 per cent of it is paid for.

    He agreed that the  electricity tariff is not cost-reflective, a situation that has been further compounded by the recent devaluation of the naira.

    “But, as we know, even the tariff paid for that unit of electricity is far from being cost-reflective, especially in the light of recent devaluation of the Naira,” he said, adding that the  sector has suffered from chronic underinvestment, especially in transmission and distribution.

    The President said many of the successor utilities of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have failed to meet their performance improvement targets due to technical and financial capacity issues.

    He regretted that “we are in a vicious cycle of under-performance and under-investment, and everyone has a different view of which value chain player should be blamed for continued sector malaise.”

    Tinubu described the celebration of the 10th anniversary of NESI as a perfect opportunity to reflect as a sector and as Government on the progress achieved and the challenges faced since the unbundling and privatisation of the integrated national utility.

    He recalled that the key objectives of the privatisation effort were to improve the efficiency of the power sector, unlock private sector investments and unleash the potential of the nation through an energized economy. The President, however, lamented that the sector has not met its privatisation objectives 10 years after.

        “10 years on, I believe it is fair to say that the objectives of sector privatisation have by and large, not been met. Over 90 million Nigerians lack access to electricity. The national grid only serves about 15 percent of the country’s demand. This has left households and factories to rely on expensive self-generation, which supplies a staggering 40 percent of the country’s demand.

        “What is worse is that the total amount of electricity that can be wheeled through the national grid has remained relatively flat in the last 10 years. The grid capacity has increased from just over 3000MW to typically just over 4,000MW today, compared to a 40,000MW target by 2020 that the Federal Government had set pre-privatisation,” he said.

        Tinubu urged the stakeholders to intensify efforts to address commercial issues and improve the investment attractiveness of the sector.

        He said only around 45per cent of NESI customers are metered today, with wide variations across DISCOS.

        The President noted that the scale of investment needed to meter current and new customers and replace obsolete meters is not trivial.

        The Government, he said, is “committed to supporting the metering drive through the World Bank DISREP programme which should add at least 1.25 million meters, while activating the Meter Acquisition Fund to procure another 4 million meters.

        “But we must also realize that long-term sustainable metering should be within the remit of DISCOS and their partners.”

        Stressing the issue of tariff, Tinubu insisted: “We need to have a clear plan to re-base tariffs, so we recognize the real costs and loss levels of the entire value chain, and we allow for adequate cost recovery for investments. We need to be clear on what shortfalls are and how we will finance them.

        “And there must be a clear path to extinguishing historic sector debts to various value chain stakeholders. A reconciliation exercise in this regard is already underway.”

        He disclosed that the sector needs to quickly develop and execute a clear roadmap for serving profitable pools of customers.

        According to him, this includes industrial and agricultural clusters and strengthened participation in the West African Power Pool in the immediate term.

        He revealed that the government and sector must deepen engagement with the Nigerian public on power – including communicating sector strategy and key milestones and curbing energy theft through community engagement and penalties.

        Operationally, he said  there a number of key imperatives that the sector must pursue:

        He also disclosed that since 80 percent of grid generation today is from gas, the government  intends to convene all relevant stakeholders to develop a gas policy for the power sector delineating where the power sector will get gas from and how it will pay for it.

        “We cannot build a sector on best endeavour arrangements,” said the President.

        Continuing, Tinubu said “We need to have a single source of truth in terms of data in the sector, a national electrification plan that highlights the energy gaps, supported by clear investment plans on how to close the gaps.

        “We need to institute a Presidential Taskforce that will monitor and unblock the progress of deployment of key projects in the sector.

        “This includes projects that will help unconstrain the grid and deliver the full available generation capacity to our homes and factories.

        “We have to accelerate the pace of deployment of renewables and solar in places where it makes sense.

        “There is a real opportunity to accelerate the deployment of inter-connected and isolated mini-grids to deliver power close to the point of use.

        “And will support the rollout out of initiatives aimed at diesel displacement to reduce the carbon intensity of embedded power plants, while supporting innovative financing schemes for solar solutions in the home.”

    Read Also: Tinubu: DisCos undercapitalized by N2tr, calls for recapitalization

        The President said the government will announce its transformation roadmap by the end of 2023.

        “To announce what the transformation roadmap will be by the end of this year,” he said.

        He made some clarifications about the role of states in a new national electricity framework of the Electricity Act 2023 which he signed.

         According to him,  the Electricity Act has also given the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission  the power to advise on the transition of the market away from a single bulk trader and on the unbundling and concessioning of the country’s transmission network.

        He sought the prioritization of access to electricity, stressing that his challenge has been universal electricity access to electricity by the end of this decade.

        “In this context, we must understand that customers have differing abilities to pay and must be protected through the operationalization of the power consumer assistance fund and other cross-subsidization schemes.”President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made strong commitments in terms of building a leverage the national grid and how they build out their electricity markets.

        “We need to understand that private sector investments are what will move the sector forward and we must work hard to align all decision-making to attract serious equity and debt investors.”

        He said that there is need to realize the complex stakeholder map of the sector and the need for closer inter-ministerial and cross-sector regulatory coordination.

        He noted that the reconstitution of the inter-ministerial power working group is a priority.

        Speaking the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu noted that the renewal of the licenses of the DisCos and GenCos will be a factor of their performance and not automatic.

        According to him, the government will not renew the license of any of the firms that has underperformed.

        He noted that the roundtable will discuss whether the companies have complied with their agreement to reduce commercial and technical losses.

        Adelabu said:  “10 years down the line the licenses are expiring and it is high time for renewal. Renewal is not automatic.

        “Any of the privatized company that has not lived up to expectation will not have the license renewed. We have to consider whether you have complied with the terms and conditions of the licence you were given.

        “We will look at technical capacity of the GenCo and I’d the DisCo. We will look at the financial credibility of the DisCos, how much investments made since you got this license.

        “How much improvement have you made in addition to it. How much of the ATC&C losses have you reduced based on the agreement when you were given this licences ? “These are the serious conversation we need to have with the private sector of the generation and distribution companies.”

        Responding, NERC General Manager, Market Competition and Rates, Shamsudeen Mammud noted that the licenses of the DisCos will expire in 2028 and not in 2023.

        According to him, the commission extended their 10 year licenses by five years.

        “However, I want to make a clarification on the trending issue about the license of the DisCos. It is all over, people are saying the license will expire this year. The DisCos were given a 10 year license.

        “But as they took over, the commission extended their license by five years. So the DisCos have 15 years license. So their license will expire five years from now which is 2028.”

        He said the commission has always sanctioned the licenses when they err.

        According to him, the industry has been making slow progress.

        House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas represented by House Committee on Power chairman, Hon. Victor Nwokolo was opposed to the idea of holding only the private investors accountable for the challenges in the industry.

        He said the government which holds only 40 percent of the equity of the DisCos has the upper hand in the board meetings instead of the private sector that has 60 percent.

        He wondered how many government ministries, department and agencies pay their bills.

  • NERC launches app to monitor DisCos compliance with tariff

    NERC launches app to monitor DisCos compliance with tariff

    The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Monday, September 11, launched an app to monitor Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos)’s compliance with the tariffs set in a regulation.

     The chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba broke the news in Abuja during the launch of the Power Outage Reporting System (PORS) App, using Abuja Electricity Distribution Company as a pilot project.

    He noted that the app was designed for cross-working data for the purpose of Supply Based Tariff (SBT).

    He said: “This particular app we are launching today is supposed to assist the commission in monitoring that DisCos are actually complying with the tariff that was set with that regulation.”

    Garba noted that one of the major roles of NERC is quality supply regulation, which, according to him, led to its recent launch of a new consumer protection regulation that provides a timeline within which public utilities and especially DisCos are required to resolve complaints by the customers.

    He said the commission tried to sample opinion on the level of quality of supply that customers are experiencing.

    Read Also: Electricity consumers square off with NERC over exploitative tendencies

    The chairman disclosed that consequently, NERC decided it is better to put smart meters on one feeder for accurate data or near real-time data.

    According to him, the commission has discovered that the DisCos are actually complying with the obligation in real time.

    He further noted that the app was launched to assist customers in giving feedback on the disruption of supply in the areas to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

     The chairman said the app which the customers are expected to download from the Google Place Store “is supposed to help customers to report disruption of supply in their areas.”

    He added that the app has become necessary because some customers are tired of being in the customer care of the DisCos when they are in blackout for days.

    The chairman said although the app commenced as a pilot project with the AEDC, the commission will soon roll it out to other energy distributors in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

    He said: “We decided to start this launch with Abuja and there will be a national rollout for other distribution companies.

    “AEDC today is like a guinea pig for the app but we will quickly expedite other distribution companies.”

    He encouraged the customers to download the app, stressing all they need is their meter number.

    The chairman said with a click of a button the customers can report about supply for someone in the commission to attend to it.

    He urged the DisCos whose source of money is from supply to the customers to see the report from customers as instruction for disruption which could affect their collections.

    Also, speaking, NERC vice chairman, Musliu Oseni, noted that the commission is working on the establishment of contact centres.

    He vowed that NERC will continue to improve its regulation of the industry.

    The app, he said, “is ready for a nationwide rollout but we are starting with Abuja and extending to Eko or Ikeja DisCos.”

    Earlier, the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, Hajia Aisha Mahmud noted that the app is to ensure customers are satisfied and get value for their money.

    According to her, the app will assist NERC to monitor Supply Based Tariffs (SBT).

    She added: “If you have a complaint on any outage there are multiple channels to report outage.”

    Meanwhile, AEDC MD, Christopher Ezeafulukwe described feedback for the Disco as the raw materials it needs to provide the services that it is contracted to supply.

    He noted that the app is a product of collaboration, which implies it is going to be a win-win for all.

  • Why DisCos can’t recapitalise, by group

    The 11 power distribution companies (DisCos) cannot recapitalise due to inappropriate pricing regime in the sector, the Association of Electricity Distributors of Nigeria (ANED) Executive Director, Research and Operation, Mr Sunday Oduntan, has said.

    In an interview with The Nation in Lagos, he said only Edo and Ekiti state governments have criminalised energy theft, by ensuring that House of Assemblies passed the bill into law.

    He urged the DisCos management to report any staff member caught committing any crime to association for punishment.

    He advised other states to emulate Edo and Ekiti, adding that by doing so, ANED would not find it difficult to solve the problem.

    One kilowatt of electricity  (KWh) is N32, a development, which has resulted in a shortfall of N48 from N80, the expected price of the product.

    On calls by the Transmission Council of Nigeria(TCN) Chief Executive Officer, Mr Usman Mohammed, that the power firms should recapitalise, he said such calls were unnecessary, considering the illiquidity in the sub-sector.

    He stressed that it is impossible for the Discos to invest where they cannot recoup on time.

    Oduntan said:  “The references to recapitalisation are misleading and unrealistic, without taking into consideration the ability to recover the capital injection.

    ”In the absence of appropriate pricing of the product (electricity), the power distribution firms cannot recapitalise. The reason is because any capital the firms provide. They must be able to recover the cost of ploughing their capital into  the sector. How would they recover their cost, when their product is under-priced and undersold? The calls for recapitalisation are misleading, unwarranted and mischievous narratives by the TCN Boss.”

    According to him, the firms are increasingly find it difficult to perform well due to debts owed them.

    He noted that the firms are owed by many institutions, including the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), adding that the firms are yet to recover many of their debts.

    Besides poor pricing regime, he said the operators were battling payment for electricity.

    He said the problem is affecting  the sector’s growth.

    Also, Oduntan said the transmission segment of the industry is still not in good condition, despite the  the Federal Government’s effort to improve it.

    The grid, Oduntan said, is weak and has collapsed many times.

    “The grid needs to be strengthened.There is need for more investiments to improve the grid. That has always been there. Lots of equipment have been diaplidated and it is good to mention that the government of Preident Muhammadu Bauhari is trying its best to improve on TCN.’’ he added.

  • Ikeja NERC Forum

    One of the commendable things that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has done is trying to find workable answers to the intractable question of indiscriminate billing of electricity customers by the electricity distribution companies (DisCos). Without doubt, these companies inherited some of these debts (otherwise known as ‘crazy bills’)  from their parent company, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). But then, it is only people who were living in outer space that would say they never knew this problem was there before. Unfortunately, the DisCos have been behaving as if they were in outer space all through that period, with their insistence on customers paying these cooked-up bills.

    Of course some electricity customers may be owing the amounts on their bills. But then, countless others have been contesting these debts, over which most of the DisCos are punishing electricity customers who insist they would not pay the rather bogus debts, by cutting them off the national grid.

    I am one of such victims. Having tried unsuccessfully at some private/official levels to get justice, I decided to approach the Ikeja NERC Forum around December 18, last year, in line with the Federal Government’s directive, about two months after I had been supplying my own electricity. I was told it would take about two to three months to get to my turn. My petition, with reference number IFO/2956/2018, was necessitated by my inability to vend (recharge my electricity card after exhausting the initial 100 units that came with my prepaid meter). That was precisely on October 29, last year.

    I was invited for hearing on April 11. Ikeja Electric’s (IE) representatives were also at the Forum and, when my case was called, the three-man panel ruled that Ikeja Electric must make it possible for me to vend ‘with immediate effect’ after the DisCos’s representative said they were yet to reconcile my account ( four months after submitting my petition!). I saw this was fair enough and therefore did not want to waste time since the ‘substantive suit’ was yet to be heard.

    However, when Ikeja Electric representative told the panel that it was late for me to be connected on that day (April 11) because it was almost past their official closing time, it was resolved that this be done the next day. Knowing the DisCo I was dealing with, I did not go to their office the next day to ask that I be allowed to vend, in line with the NERC Forum’s ruling. I went to their office at Akowonjo, Lagos, on April 15, and I must say I was not disappointed. They asked me for a copy of the ruling, which I think was superfluous since their representative was at the Forum hearing. An institution with a sense of fairness ought to have a mechanism to relay such message appropriately. But, because their operations are steeped in bad faith, they feigned ignorance of that ruling. The question I asked the lady who asked for the ruling was whether they would wait for a copy of the ruling if they had been asked to immediately disconnect a customer? That is where I have problem with Ikeja NERC Forum. It should have known the kind of DisCos we have and should have given me something to present at the IE office. Moreover, it should have a way of monitoring whether its rulings are complied with, and promptly too, especially like my own case where the Forum said I should be allowed to vend immediately and that has not come to be five weeks later, despite my mail to the Forum to this effect. All cannot be said to be well when I have a ruling that is useless to me five weeks after. If one spent four years to learn how to get mad, then how many years will he have to demonstrate insanity?

    *One other thing I observed in the course of my dealings with the Forum is that it hardly replies mails. Interestingly, this is one of the things it is supposed to sanction DisCos for once customers are able to provide satisfactory evidence that they had contacted the DisCo before making the Forum a last resort. At least I witnessed two or three cases on April 11; where some customers claimed they wrote letters to IE without having any reply. The evidence the Forum asked for was the written letters or emails to that effect.  I don’t know why the forum does not reply mails, but my guess is that it is probably not well funded or short-staffed. I apologise if I am wrong; but this is the kind of conclusion one is at liberty to draw when one made about 10 calls within three days (Wednesday to Friday, last week) to such a critical body without being dignified with a response. As a matter of fact, I decided to send email again to the Forum on Thursday when I started suspecting that my calls were being deliberately avoided.

    If you ask me, I do not think two NERC Forum branches are enough for Lagos; the state has the largest concentration of electricity consumers who also know their rights and would want to defend them. Perhaps one more can be added to facilitate justice delivery. Justice seems to be coming too slow from the axis because of the huge number of complaints the panel has to decide. My petition was in the cooler for about four months before it was heard!

    The power, works and housing minister, Mr Babatunde Fashola, and the Buhari government generally deserve commendation for setting up NERC Forum. It is about one of the very first genuine attempts by any government in the country to address the vexed issue of crazy bills that signposted the power sector for decades. Indeed, one has to give the credit to the government for the various steps it has taken to deal with this issue, the latest being the capping of the bills that DisCos can give in the absence of prepaid meters, which took effect this month. Before now, successive governments and the power sector players seemed to be rubbing each other’s back. Remember the humungous amount the sector, which said it did not have money to procure meters (one of its most basic tools) gave the Goodluck Jonathan administration for electioneering in 2014/15. I recall also the encomium that the then President Olusegun Obasanjo showered on the then National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) when it said it had successfully raised its monthly revenue from about N2billion to N6billion around 2003. This was at a time power supply was very low. What one would have expected a truly democratically elected president to do was to ask NEPA’s chief executive the magic he did to make that kind of money which was not matched by any improvement in power supply. That is the fraud that the power sector has been for years. It had been a kind of ‘dog carried it and thief took it’ (aja gbe ole gba) relationship between successive federal governments and the players in the inept and corrupt sector.

    But nothing in this piece should be taken to mean that Ikeja NERC Forum is ineffectual. May be I am just one of the few persons that are not able to enjoy the fruits of government’s expectation in setting up the body. I have always tried to restrain myself from using this medium to vent my frustrations with IE. But then, it is about six months ago that I did something like that on this page. Six months after; it is still all motion, no movement. I tried to follow the process laid down by government and indeed allowed it to run its full course. But, characteristically Nigerian, it seems people steeped in their old iniquitous ways would just not want to change.

    So. I had to use this medium again. After all IE too has been using what it has to keep me off the national grid for over seven months. But the company must know it has invited the wrong person into the ring. I have supplied my own electricity for seven months without a hitch; at least I have been having electricity when I need it; no power failure, not for one day. I had been told it would be a long, tortuous journey by the time I was starting the battle and I kitted myself well for it.

    However, if funding is NERC Forum’s problem, it is important the government addressed the issue if the purpose of its establishment is not to be defeated. Otherwise, there is need to monitor the activities of the bodies nationwide. It is one thing for the government to desire something; it is another for those in charge of implementation to buy into the idea. I do not want to give any verdict yet on Ikeja NERC Forum, but if I could get a ruling asking IE to let me vend, at least pending the resolution of my matter with the company that is before the Forum, and that is yet to happen, five weeks after, something is wrong. If this can happen to someone like me who has a voice; I can only imagine what millions of voiceless Nigerians are going through in the hands of shylock DisCos that are hell bent on reaping where they did not sow. That is the essence of ‘cap’.

     

  • Fate of DisCos shaky as govt plans other options

    Years after it was privatised, the power sector has failed to deliver the desired result, the Federal Government said yesterday.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who delivered the verdict, spoke of other options to re-engineer the sector for effective power supply to meet domestic and industrial needs of Nigerians. He was not specific on the options.

    Prof Osinbajo laid it bare in his May Day address to workers at the Eagle Square in Abuja. He said the government was not happy that several years after the sector was privatised, it has failed to deliver.

    The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc. was unbundled in 2013 during the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. It was to allow for private sector involvement in the generation and distribution of power.

    The vice president, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, said the government was “strongly committed to changing the narratives” in the power sector.

    He said: “Today, that sector, after it was privatised, still remains stalled in delivering power to many Nigerian homes and businesses.

    “We must act as a matter of national importance and we are committed to doing so, to work and re-engineer the sector for much more effective performance. Workers shall be called upon to play a greater role in supporting the government to attain all these goals.”

    Osinbajo, who also told the workers that the new minimum wage would be fully implemented by the Buhari administration, however, expressed concern over incessant strikes by workers as a means of resolving industrial disputes.

    He said the nation was losing so much in terms of resources and manpower to job boycotts.

    The vice president said: “Industrial peace is central to economic stability. Every industrial disruption cost the national economy very dearly in terms of money and manpower that are lost.

    “It is for this reason that I urged all actors in the industrial relations system to be circumspect and ethical in the use of industrial action as tools for resolving work place crisis. Industrial actions, because of the huge economic and social cost, should be the last and not the first option for resolving disputes.”

    Read also: Security challenges: Our military doing good job, says Osinbajo

    Osinbajo, who was silent on the crisis between Labour & Employment Minister Chris Ngige and organised Labour over the change in the chairmanship of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), however, assured workers that President Buhari will reciprocate the renewed mandate given to him by the electorate by ensuring prompt delivery on his electoral promises.

    He said: “At the just concluded general elections, Nigerians and indeed Nigerian workers gave our administration another mandate to govern them. We shall reciprocate this electoral gesture by focusing on the critical issues that will advance and improve the quality of the lives and livelihood of Nigerians.

    “These include the building of infrastructure, such as roads, rail, hydroelectricity and revaluing all sectors of the national economy in order to put our country on the path of a sustainable economic growth and prosperity.”

    Osinbajo said the Buhari administration remained strongly committed to the goals of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) movement, adding that “on assumption of office in 2015, in spite of daunting economic challenges which confronted us at the time, we ensured that no worker was retrenched across the country.

    “We followed this commitment by providing bailout funds for states that were unable to pay salaries at that time in order to pay their accumulated arrears. He also released Paris Club refund owed since 2005 to make sure that workers were not owed anything.

    “We also ensure the payment of outstanding benefits of retrenched workers. Retrenched Nigeria Airways workers who were owed for decades were paid. We also ensured that the Pensions Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) also paid arrears owed to parastatals, civil servants pensioners covering about 101, 393 civil service pensioners in all grade levels and 76,310 parastatal pensioners across 186 ministries, departments and agencies. This is in addition to the arrears that were paid to officers of the Police, Customs and Immigration.

    “The administration also settled pension issues of the Armed Forces and paramilitary personnel who were dismissed as a result of their participation in the civil war. All these veterans have now been paid their outstanding benefits.

    Continue in page 2

  • NEMSA charges DisCos, TCN to install protectors

    Amid the rising incidence of the blame game among the operators in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) yesterday called on the electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to install fault protectors that can prevent unforeseen incidents. The TCN had claimed the DisCos’ rejection of load allocation trips-off some of its transformers and other equipment.

    But the NESA Managing Director, Engr. Peter Ewesor, who spoke with The Nation in Abuja, said that the best option of preventing such a fault, is for the respective operators to get standard protection schemes against any reflective fault. He technically described the scenario as that of non utilized load rather than load rejection, stressing that the DisCos are only accepting what they can sell for money.

    His words: “But there are other ways of making sure that the load is not utilized and how it causes challenges to TCN is what I cannot tell you more because I think along the power chain value system, every sector should have appropriate protection against any unforeseen incidences that happen to their system. So the GenCos, TCN, distribution companies should have appropriate protection Standard schemes to protect against any reflected fault that could happen from any side.”

    Ewesor revealed that the level of compliance with the directive that DisCos should not supply premium customers from 33KV and put the underprivileged ones in perpetual darkness, has been very low. He added that “We are making sure they (DisCos) comply. Once we discover it we ask them to disconnect, we are having real fight with them which we are not deterred to fight for the benefit of Nigerians.” He noted that the directive that customers should not accept meters that have no NEMSA seals has started yielding results as people have started complaining about such meters which the concerned DisCos have returned to their suppliers.

     

  • Mass metering- Discos Vs NERC

    Sir: It is said that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that will suffer. In the recent report available to the public, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reiterated that the obligation to ensure that all electricity consumers have meters remained with the Disco under Meter Asset Provider Regulations 2018. The deadlines for consumers metering have continued to lapse. Lately, it was alleged that the Executive Director, ANED, Sunday Oduntan said that metering was no longer the responsibility of Discos.

    These words kept consumers wondering if the comprehensive metering enshrined in the performance agreements signed with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is no longer tenable.

    The anticipated power reform act sponsored by the Majority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila for compulsory installation of pre-paid meters in favor of all power consumers in Nigeria hangs in the balance.

    When I checked the definition of estimate from the Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary by A.S. Hornby , it hasn’t changed from,  a judgment that you make without having the exact details or figures about size, amount, cost, etc. of something. It is therefore a guess work, a world of uncertainty haunted by corruption, where transparency no longer matters and opportunities for officials to cut corners reigned supreme.

    The continued use of estimated billing and bulk metering therefore is grave injustice to millions of Nigerians who want prepaid meters. And I think after 57 years of bumpy crawling, we should now walk if we can’t fly in power sector. It is worth emphasizing that the estimated billing has left many businesses in excruciating pain and forced some to shut down.

    Not metering customers is prolonging the agony of Nigerians. Democracy is enjoyed today because of those that fought for it, men and women had offered their lives to defend our freedoms. The various inventions we enjoyed today were as result of the hard-fought achievements by those inventors who cared so deeply to change lives.

    The information available to the public domain indicated that the federal government had consistently waded into the issue of metering through various means, yet the nettle covers with fine hairs continued to sting when touched. Who will help Nigerians pull the root of the nettle? Again, the NERC has promised mass metering will begin on May 1; we hope it make do its promise this time.

    The power sector in the world is one of the most profitable businesses and Nigeria cannot be an exemption. The fear of a reduced inflow of revenue if all consumers are metered would only be in the short run barring efficient management.

    It is a general believe that Distribution Companies (Discos) are reluctant to provide prepaid meter because they make more money from estimated bills. The fact is, some consumers are ready to buy and enjoy a fair billing but when the prepaid meters are not available what can they do? To the ordinary people in the street, prepaid meter is like a sim card that was pretty hard to obtain initially but now offered free by the telecommunication operators.

    An ordinary man in the street will not understand why any company would not be interested in universal metering of consumers, if prepaid meters are given to consumers, the energy spent on debt recovery by Discos will vanish, revenue collection will improve, operation cost will reduce and it will help its consumers improve their energy efficiency.

    If we consider the several options of sources of power opened to us in Nigeria, one would wonder why we are not fully utilizing other sources of energy like coal, wind, solar thermal, biomass and waste and that is the reason we are still swimming in the paltry less than 10,000 megawatts.

    ‘Up Nepa’ is as old as Methuselah but he died at a point. The metering of Nigerians will offer a befitting burial for ‘Up Nepa’.

    The next level of fixing energy challenge by the APC-led government will have a spiral effect on the economy and will score the government very high.

     

    • OlusanyaAnjorin,

    Lagos.

  • FG flags-off project to deliver additional 624mw in FCT

    The Federal Government on Thursday kick-started the implementation of the construction of nine 330 KV lines to deliver additional 624mw to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs,

    At completion, the project will add 1,380MVA transformer capacity that is expected to improve power transmission and supply within Abuja and its environs as well as positively impact the socio-economic well-being of the people.

    Speaking at the official groundbreaking ceremony in Dawaki-Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Dr. Louis Edozien, charged the Managing Director, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Mr. Ernest Mupwaya and the Generation Company, to ensure optimal utilization of the facility when it is completed in the next two years.

    Edozien said that: “It is the distribution company that must play the role in taking this extra capacity and delivering it to customers. At the same time, the partnership also expects from the generation companies because if they don’t produce another 624mw, it is only the engineers that will at the end of two years admire the facility.”

    He noted that the ministry aimed at an end -to -end delivery of electricity, which requires a crucial role of the DisCo, recalling that the financing partner, AFD, was into a distribution projects that did not go well in the past.

    The Permanent Secretary insisted that it was “time now to reconsider a more purposeful and successful financing intervention at the distribution and retail end of the industry.”

    It is, however, an irony that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is siting the project on the right of way of the high tension passing through Dawaki in Abuja.

    The company is presently weeding out all structures on the right of way through out the country with the support of the state governors.

    Read Also: FG spent N79.2bn on monthly pension in 2018, says PTAD

    The TCN Managing Director, Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed, noted that the project was to tackle the problem of electricity transmission in Abuja.

    He noted that the TCN saved about 25million from the procurement process of the project because the contractors were even ready to commence implementation before payment.

    According to him, Transmission Rehabilitation Expansion Programme, which TCN was implementing was on course as all the components that included the frequency control has been achieved 65 per cent.

    His words: “I am happy to tell you that as from achieved frequency control of 59.8 and 2Hz for 65% of the time from December 23 to date, being the best in the history of the country.”

    He said that the company was enforcing the free governor control, which was targeted at attaining the best frequency control in West Africa.

    He said that the TCN had also achieved the complete procurement of spinning reserve, which was undergoing the final consultation for the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for approval and deployment.

    He added that the company had done everything possible to make the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) work having fixed all the deficiencies that inhibited the achievement in the past.

    Mohammed said that the TCN has installed 40 transformers in the last two years, recovered 730 containers from the over 800 containers that were stranded in the ports.

  • NEMSA to sanction DisCos over substandard equipment

    The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) will punish any electricity distribution company (DisCo) that uses substandard equipment, its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Ewesor, has said.

    He said the sanction ranged from a fine of at least N500, 000 to prosecution.

    He said the decision to impose sanctions on the firms was borne out of the need to make them comply with their rules and regulations.

    In an interview with The Nation, he said the agency had warned the DisCos against using substandard materials and equipment, adding that non-compliance would attract punishment.

    He said the agency has directed  the power firms to disconnect buildings on the Right of Ways (ROW) of power lines because of the hazards.

    He said the agency had issued an enforcement order to power firms and their contractors on the use of substandard electrical equipment.

    He said the directive issued between June 2017 and last December led to the disconnection of 1,205 buildings across the country, adding the measures were being taken to restore sanity in the sector.

    He said apart from undertaking responsibility in ensuring that customers get standard meters, the agency has also inspected poles manufacturing firms.

    NEMSA, Ewesor said, has inspected the 71 concrete poles manufacturing firms and certified 31. He said 40 firms were not given the green light, but were asked to correct certain areas and re-apply.

    According to him, NEMSA is insisting that new electrical networks and installations were inspected, tested and certified for use  to reduce the dangers in using such facilities.

    He said the agency stopped DisCos and contractors from undertaking substandard and bad construction practices in the power and allied sectors, to improve the use of quality and danger prevention equipment, adding that lives and properties are in danger of being lost to fire when substandard electrical equipment are used.

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) had seized substandard electrical products. Also, the agency has warned importers of substandard products to desist or face prosecution.