The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PHCN

  • Electrocution: Court orders PHCN to pay N25m

    A Katsina-Ala High Court judge in Benue State, Justice Tersea Kume, has ordered the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company Plc to jointly pay N25 million damages to the family of a man, Akpenwuan Chia, who was electrocuted by high tension electricity cable in Ukum Local Government Area in August, last   year.

    Delivering judgement in a suit filed by Edward Ikyoive, counsel to the elder brother of the victim, Mr Aondo Chia, Justice Kume also ordered that the defendant to pay interest of 10 per cent monthly until the judgement sum is liquidated.

    The plaintiff sued the defendants, claiming N1 billion as general damages for negligence, which caused the electrocution of his younger brother.

    Justice Kume said he relied on the evidence of the plaintiff that it was due to negligence by officials of PHCN, who failed to remove the high tension cable, which electrocuted the victim about 8.20pm on the fateful day when he was returning from the compound of a chief to his home.

    The judge said it was the careless conduct of PHCN officials that caused the death of the 40 years old man.

    She averred that if the high tension cable, which was suspended mid air across the road, had been quickly removed after the report was made to PHCN, the incident would have been averted.

    Justice Kume urged officials of PHCN to ensure quick attention to some of its damaged cables, especially where reports had been made by its customers, to avoid such ugly incidents.

    Counsel to the plaintiff, Mr Edward Ikyoive, described the judgment as “sound”.

    The lawyer said though no amount could compensate for the value of life, the money would support the children and wife of the deceased.

  • Electrocution: Court orders PHCN to pay N25m as damages

    A Katsina- Ala High court judge Justice Tersea Kume has ordered the Power Holding Company of Nigeria( PHCN) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company Plc to jointly pay twenty -five million naira as damages to the family of a young man,Akpenwuan Chia,who was electrocuted by high tension electricity cable in Ukum local government area in August last  year.

    Delivering judgement in a suit filed by Edward Ikyoive  ,counsel to the elder brother of the victim Mr Aondo Chia,Justice Kume also ordered that the defendant to pay interest of ten percent monthly until the judgement sum is liquidated .

    The plaintiff had sued the defendants claiming  one billion naira as general damages for negligence which caused the electrocution of his younger brother .

    The trail judge, Justice Kume said he belived the evidence of the plaintiff that it was due to negligence by officials of PHCN who failed to remove the high tension cable which electrocuted the victim about 8:20 pm on the fateful day  while returning from the compound of Chief Imojime Chia  to his own residence .

    The judge noted that it was due to the careless conduct of officials of PHCN in the area that caused the life of the 40 year-old young man,pointing out that if the high tension cable which fell but was suspended mid air across the road was quickly removed after the report was made ,the ugly incident would have been averted .

    He therefore charged officials of PHCN to ensure quick attention to some of its damaged cables  especially where report had been made by its customers to avoid such ugly incident .

    Counsel to  plaintiff MR. Edward Ikyoive described the judgement as sound saying though no amount can assuage the value of life. He said the money will help train the children of the deceased  and his widow.

  • World Bank’s $1.75b lifeline for power sector coming

    World Bank’s $1.75b lifeline for power sector coming

    The World Bank has pledged $1.75 billion to support the Power Sector Reform (PSR) in Nigeria over the next four years.

    World Bank’s Country Energy Task Team Leader for Nigeria, Mr. Eric Fernstrom, dropped the hint at a capacity building programme on Post Privatisation Monitoring for the sector.

    The programme was organised by the bank and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    According to Fernstrom, the $1.75 billion was 25 per cent of the $7 billion earmarked for the country.

    BPE’s Head of Public Communications, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe also confirmed the development in a statement yesterday.

    Chigbo noted that the bank was greatly encouraged to offer the additional assistance fo the realisation of the reform’s objectives following the transparency displayed in the transaction process and the post reform measures put in place by the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) and the BPE.

    The two-day workshop held at Ibom Golf Resort, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, sought to expose participants to the techniques, methods and information sources for effective Post Privatisation Monitoring and Evaluation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies.

    It was also meant to enable participants analyze performance targets, using relevant tools as well as expose them to strategies for effective engagement and collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

    Participants at the workshop were drawn from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC); Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP); Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN); and the Office of the Vice President; among others.

    The Director General of the BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, rated the workshop very high, saying it will raise participants’ capacity to effectively monitor power companies.

    He was represented by the Director of Post Privatisation Monitoring Department, Mr. Ibrahim Kashim.

  • Creaming off

    Creaming off

    •Federal Government throwing more money into privatised power firms will not solve the problem

    Finally, a whopping $213 billion has been harnessed by the government and warehoused for the sole use of the newly privatised power firms in the hope that they will begin to behave better and light up the country. But since we believe strongly that funding may not be the problem of the Nigeria power sector, we may well be witnessing an exercise in futility and so much pearl thrown at swine.

    After so many decades of heeing and hawing, Nigeria’s power sector which was solely a public affair was privatised. Government divested her majority interests in generating (Gencos) and distribution (Discos) companies. Since November 1, 2013, government had licensed over a dozen private Gencos and Discos that now generate and distribute electricity across the country. The transmission leg of the electricity chain was handed to another private firm (Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN) in a lease management arrangement.

    But one year after government’s divestment and one year of private firms running electricity generation and distribution in Nigeria, the only things that seem to have changed are rapidly rising tariffs and more frequent outages. Power generation has remained low and sometimes dropping to crisis levels. Distribution continues at its old lackadaisical best, reminiscent of the old days when it was marinated in government’s bureaucratic morass of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.

    Watchers of the sector have adduced numerous reasons why the power situation has regressed even after privatisation. First, it is believed that the bidding process was compromised and the wrong people were favoured by government. The crisis leading to the forced removal of the then power minister, Professor Barth Nnaji, is a pointer. Second, there is no evidence that the new owners are anxious to make investment commitments as expected. Having raised huge facilities from banks to acquire the assets, most of them are simply creaming off the substantial earnings from their operations to pay back loans; most of the new so-called investors have made little financial commitment to the project.

    Another point to ponder is: was there no due diligence by the new investors? How come they did not find out that there was a huge debt overhang in the power sector? Why were the dilapidated assets they groan about now not revealed before the purchase? Why are so many issues being raised only after the plants had been acquired?

    Tariff has been increased twice in one year since divestment and another one planned for December, yet service remains poor. There seems to be much more than meets the eye in the entire power transactions. For instance, new owners have hedged in meterising the system; conveniently adopting the old, but non-accounting method of power distribution. The modest pre-privatisation efforts at metering were jettisoned. Even consumers who for many years had paid for meters (which were supposed to be issued free of charge in the first place) are yet to get the instrument.

    In a sense, it is salutary that the Federal Government is not giving up as it strains to right its wrongs. Getting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to mobilise long-term funds at low interest to bolster privatised firms would ordinarily be commendable but these are far from ordinary times. Neither are we in ordinary situations. We aver again that the problem with the power sector is not a lack of fund. The sector, like most others, is beset by debilitating corruption.

    There had been over a dozen funds of this nature. Recall the Nigeria Shipping Fund; an earlier power fund in 2010 and an airlines rescue funds, to name a few. None of these was ever accounted for. They were funds that were suspected to have largely ended up in private pockets.

    We warn once again that what is happening is a vicious cycle of government and its cronies in the power sector creaming off the nation’s common wealth. Nigerians need to know: how much have the various investors injected; how much have they realised from operating the firms; how much real stake do they have; is there a chance that firms merely creaming off could lose their licenses?  More questions than answers.

     

  • Save me from PHCN’s tyranny

    SIR: Is it possible for a stranger to go to somebody’s house and remove his property without his consent? This has been happening to me since 2010 and it is far from subsiding. The latest of such affronts occurred again on October 28, 2014 when my entire family was away from home. Before our return in the evening, my prepaid meter which I paid for had been stolen with the service wire.

    It was with the help of the police that I later discovered that the PHCN in Romi, Kaduna state branch office that took my pre-paid meter away for no just reason. Upon enquiries, the branch manager confessed that he wanted to connect me to another free meter from the World Bank and that he took the one I bought from PHCN with the sum of 25 thousand naira to another person who do not have meter. My request to be given another meter has not yielded any result and this is not funny at all.

    I want to use this avenue to call on good Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora, human right activists, civil societies, lawyers and well-wishers to join me fight this menace to a halt by supporting me as I am preparing for a redress this time around.

    • Onuoja Ojodomo,

     Romi, Kaduna.

     

  • Reform too early to be assessed, says MAN

    Reform too early to be assessed, says MAN

    It is too early to assess the power sector reform, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has said

    Its Chairman, Infrastructure Committee, Reginald Odiah, told The Nation that the body wants to observe the unfolding situation before passing judgment on issues relating to the power sector reforms.

    He said: “As regard the issue of privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), it is a good development in the history of Nigeria’s energy sector. The idea is aimed at repositioning the sector for growth to enable it compete with others in the emerging economies.

    “Though we believe that the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is competent to regulate the sector and further make it work, we are still studying the situation. We want to see how the whole thing plays out before stating our position on the matter.”

    Odiah said the body presently generates about 550 megawatts (Mw) of power in the three out of its eight delineated industrial clusters.

    He said the association grouped the country into eight industrial clusters, out of which three were picked for the location of power plants after careful appraisal of developments. He said the three clusters located in Ota/Abeokuta axis of Ogun State have functional power plants, adding that the Ota/Abeokuta axis was chosen because of its relatively huge concentration of industries.

    “We are looking at areas with high concentration of industries and after necessary investigations, we arrived at a decision to choose Ota/ Abeokuta axis. Besides, we discovered that the cost implication of having power plants in the area is not much compared to others.  In the three industrial clusters located in the Ota/ Abeokuta axis, we have three power plants with an output of 550Mw,” he added.

  • MAN generates 550mw

    MAN generates 550mw

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has said it is early to assess the power sector reform including privatisation, just as the body is generating about 550 megawatts (Mw) of power in the three out of its eight delineated industrial clusters.

    Speaking to The Nation, the Chairman, Infrastructure Committee, MAN, Reginald Odiah, said the body wanted to see the situations as they unfold before passing judgments on issues relating to power sector reforms.

    He said: “As regard the issue of privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), it is a good development in the history of Nigeria’s energy sector. The idea is aimed at repositioning the sector for growth to enable it compete with others in the emerging economies. Though, we believe that the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is competent to regulate the sector and further make it work, we are still studying the situation. We want to see how the whole things play out before stating our position on the matter.”

    Odiah said the association grouped the country into eight industrial clusters, out of which three were picked for the sitting of power plants after careful appraisal of developments. He said the three clusters located in Ota/ Abeokuta axis of Ogun State have functional power plants adding that the Ota/Abeokuta axis was chosen because of its relatively huge concentration of industries.

    “We are looking at areas with high concentration of industries and after necessary investigations, we arrived at a decision to choose Ota/ Abeokuta axis. Besides, we discovered that the cost implication of having power plants in the area is not much compared to others.  In the three industrial clusters located in the Ota/ Abeokuta axis, we have three power plants with an output of 550Mw,” he added.

  • Hike in tariff inevitable, says KEDCo chief

    Hike in tariff inevitable, says KEDCo chief

    Kano Electricity Distribution Company  (KEDCo) said it has recorded an Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) losses of 49 per cent since it took over from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in November last year.

    Worried by the need to deliver optimum service to its customers, its management said it will increase electricity tariff within its areas of jurisdiction.

    Speaking during a Stakeholders’ Forum it organised in collaboration with the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Kano yesterday, its Managing Director, Dr. Jamil Isyaku Gwamna said the company is making frantic efforts to ensure that the incurred losses are reduced to six per cent in the next five years.

    He said:  “The rationale behind this meeting is that, you know, every DISCo has an obligation to improve service supply, and they can only do so if they reduce the losses and they are called Aggregate Technical Commercial and Collection (ATC & C) losses. When we came in, we had a target that over the next five years, we would make certain investments in order to achieve a certain level of loss reduction.

    “This was part of our commitment and we went through a process established by the regulator which is NERC. They gave us the methodology of how we can establish our real loses.  We were given a loss position for Kano as 40 per cent—that is the total Aggregate Technical Commercial and Collection loses.

    “But when we came in, we discovered that it was much more than that. But today, what we have established as the base-line loses for the company is close to 49 per cent. We are glad that NERC through their independent consultants has established that figure; and they have accepted that. So, this forum is to invite comments from the public because it will inevitably lead to an increase in tariff.

    “So, people are going to pay more in order to get the level of service they require because the current tariff levels are definitely low and the tariff are in two components—one, the energy cost and two, the fixed charges. make a lot of investments in the network—this is the only way that we can really increase the capacity as well as reduce the loses.”

    NERC’s Commissioner for Market Competition and Rates, Mr. Eyo Ekpo, said the study of losses incurred by distribution companies will enable them to know the position at which their losses are being calculated as well as possible ways of minimizing such losses in such a way that it will not jeopardize either the interest of the distribution companies or the customers, stressing that, “for KEDCo, their losses may be minimized if stakeholders can help provide latest input on how to achieve efficient productivity.”

  • PHCN retirees beg for pensions

    PHCN retirees beg for pensions

    RETIREES of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to alleviate their sufferings by paying up their outstanding four- month pension.

    Mr. Taiwo Idris and Malam Nuhu Abdullahi, who spoke on behalf of their colleagues, said their families were going through very hard times because they can hardly meet up their obligations.

    They said they were promised payment by those responsible for the pension but lamented actions have not been matched with words till date.

    “The Federal Government and officials in charge of the pension should come to our aid. This is our entitlement and we need it to meet up with our family commitments.

    “We are asking the authorities to respond to the voice of reasoning because staging protests will not solve the problem and we are not even ready for that in the first place,” the retirees added.

    They expressed dismay over what they described as nonchalance and lack of concern by the appropriate authorities, stating that they were being held to ransom.

    They recalled that newspapers have reported that arrangements had been completed for the payment of June, July, August and September 2014 pensions, wondering why nothing has so far been paid.

  • Privatisation killing workers, says union leader

    THE Federal Government is making workers to suffer under the guise of privatisation and commercialisation, the national President of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Service Employees (AUPCTRE), Comrade Solomon Adelegan, has alleged.

    He pointed out that workers have been retrenched under government’s claim of downsizing the economy, lamenting that several of them were relieved without pay.

    The situation, Adelegan stated, has led to the untimely death of many of the retrenched workers.

    The union leader said workers have nothing to celebrate on the occasion of the nation’s 54th independence.

    Many of them, he regretted, are struggling with a minimum wage of N18, 000 that can hardly take them home, let alone satisfying their needs.

    Adelegan, who spoke in an interview, said: “This government, under the pretence of privatisation and commercialisation is making the workers suffer.

    “We know how many of our members that have been retrenched as a result of privatisation which has led to several untimely deaths of many of these workers.

    “We know that of PHCN. After the privatisation, PHCN is even worst. Who are the people that buy this equipments and companies? Is it not the people who are there?

    “The government is contemplating privatising the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), an agency that is set up ordinarily to ensure that housing is affordable to the common man.

    “Their plan now is to privatise it and in the process, we know that they must downsize workers again.

    “They disengage people without paying them, forgetting that they have children and families to take care of and we are here talking about celebrating our independence with the harsh policies of the government on our members.”

    He added: “The workers will be happier if their jobs are secured, their take- home pay improved and the work environment improved and secured.

    “Restructuring doesn’t work that way. Restructuring is a two-way traffic. Where you cut here and you cut here, you balance here.

    “It needs to go simultaneously and is synergised in the middle. That is the problem with the Nigerian restructuring system.”