Members of the National House of Representatives have, during their convention yesterday at Asorok, vowed to conduct a bird’s-eye investigation into the power sector’s effective use of the Federal government’s N7 trillion funds support since 2013.
This decision was reached yesterday after AbdulRahman AbdulRazag, the governor of Kwara State, the chairman of the Nigeria governors forum (NGF) and other members praised the federal government for signing the 2023 Electricity bill into law.
Speaking on the significance of the new Electricity act, Mr AbdulRahman said it will ensure efficiency and stability in the power sector management and electricity supply. Moreover, he also recanted that the federal government invested over N7 trillion in the recent years since the privatisation of the sector.
The House members’ deliberations on the N 7 trillion federal government financial intervention to the power sector, came subsequently after Hon. Ademorin Kuye had moved the motion, revealing that the federal government had since the privatization of the power sector in 2013 leveraged 18 utility firms to private investors, which in turn has birthed 11 licenced electricity distribution companies ((DisCos) and 6 generation companies (GenCos).
Furthermore, Hon. Ademorin Kuye pointed out that privatisation of the power sector was considered paramount because of the failure of the extinct PHCN to meet necessary requirements and attract investors, however the new industry has not met the expectation of Nigerians.
One of the key problems he also noted was the unimplemented and ineffective Presidential Power Initiative of 31 August, 2018 even after having privatized electricity, as being part of the federal government N7 trillion direct fund support to the power sector, which was a designated strategy to address inadequate power supply in Nigeria.
He stated that Nigeria’s power sector would have gone moribund as a result of inefficient management, poor liquidity and capital flow, performance and others without the Central Bank financial intervention of over N1.3 trillion.
Hon. Ademorin Kuye also stressed that the electricity sector, since it was privatized, had received a great number of funding supports from both the Nigeria government and various international bodies which includes the World Bank approval of International Development Association (IDA) credit of $486 million to be targeted at upgrading the Nigerian electricity transmission grid, snapback and expansion of its substations across the country. (3)
Mr. Kuye, naming many other international financial agencies that had also provided funds since after the power sector’s privatisation, said that ‘the African Development Bank issued $300 million financial support to the TCN for the expansion and effective snapback of the existing Northern transmission lines, especially in the North-west and North-central areas.
The French Development Agency also gave $170 million for the transmission and expansion of the electricity industry within Abuja and its other neighbouring states; and lastly this financial agencies includes the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which also underwrote $238 million for the transmission the power sector operations enhancement across the South-west and others.
Touching on the issues of possible corrupt practices that might have been affecting the power sector, he emphasized on the challenges of revenue collection faced by DisCos which could be linked to low utility tariffs and payment diversions to wrong accounts.
