EditorialTHEWILL Editorial: Let Power Sector Reforms Yield Fruitful Results

THEWILL Editorial: Let Power Sector Reforms Yield Fruitful Results

SAN FRANCISCO, April 12, (THEWILL) – Over the years, Nigerians have been bogged by the poor performance of the power sector. Despite the endless reforms in the sector, steady power supply has remained a mirage. The result is that the use of generating sets became entrenched, which poses great danger to the environment.

Industries also depend on diesel-guzzling generating sets to power their plants for production, the multiplier effect of which is the high cost of goods and services.

Despite several transformations in the sector, including the change of name from the National Electricity Power Authority, NEPA, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, and lately electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, and Generation Companies, GENCOs, nothing significant has changed over the years. Amid this epileptic performance is the growing feeling that the privatization of the sector was fraught with fraud.

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This has been worsened by the fact that the consumers are forced to further bear the brunt by paying for darkness and parting with large sums of money for estimated bills without a corresponding electricity supply.

If the billions of money invested in the sector must be appreciated, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, must step in to investigate why there has not been concomitant result.

This is more so as ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the immediate past presidents, Goodluck Jonathan, spent N2.74 trillion in the last 16 years to revamp the sector.

We doubt if the power sector’s improvement can ever be sustained with the report by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, that the country has had countless number of system breakdowns.

According to the report, there were 22 power grid collapses in 2016 alone. This was up from the 13 and 10 collapses that were previously recorded in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Also in 2016, a report by the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, disclosed that there was an average daily revenue loss of N1.5 billion. No government that is weighed down by these challenges can record a breakthrough, especially as the current government has not demonstrated the ability to do things differently. It is annoying that the sector’s total revenue loss in 2016 alone amounted to N534 billion.

These losses are partly attributed to shortages in gas supply, management of the water levels as well as frequency and line limitations.

THEWILL demands that the Federal Government redirects its energy towards solving these challenges. This is critical if developing alternative sources of revenue must be actualized. There is also the need to declare an emergency in the sector.

It is feared that the DISCOs and GENCOs may encounter more challenges, especially with the report that some of the operators have reported difficulty in securing fresh bank loans due to their inability to meet the payment obligations from previous debts.

Considering the epileptic performance of the sector, THEWILL commends the plan of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to generate 4, 000 megawatts of electricity in the next three years or more. The project would be anchored around the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG model.

Also, worthy of note is the various efforts by some states to contribute more megawatts to the national grid.

For instance, in Edo State, the on-going Azura power plant would add 2,000 megawatts to the national output, as well as the Ihovbor power station, which is scheduled to deliver 450mw and the planned 1,000 megawatts to be generated from the Gelegele Seaport. Similar independent power projects are also on going in Lagos, Akwa Ibom and Delta states among others.

THEWILL urges the Federal Government to overhaul the several projects under its National Integrated Power Project, NIPP, so that the support from the private sector could lead to an improvement. Past efforts by the Federal Government must not be allowed to fail due to reported sabotage and fraud that have characterized its operations.

It is imperative that these Federal Government projects are revamped so that the contributions by states could be meaningful. Some of the projects that must be speedily resuscitated are the Afam IV-V in Oshogbo, Geregu Gas, Alaoji National Integrated Power Project, Olorunsogo Gas, Odukpani NIPP, Okpai, Ibom Power, ASCO, AES, Omoku, Rivers NIPP and Gbarain power.

It is therefore imperative that an emergency be declared in the sector so that these 12 plants, with a total installed power output of 11,165mw and a combined capacity of 2,035mw, could be revitalized for optimum performance which would be a reprieve to long suffering Nigerians and industries in the country.

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