By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Federal Government yesterday( Monday) announced the transfer of Regulatory Oversight of the Electricity Market in Imo State to the state electricity regulatory commission, otherwise known as (ISERC). In a statement issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Common( NERC), the development is in compliance with the amended Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) and the Electricity Act 2023 (Amended), reiterating that all transfers envisaged by this order shall be completed by 31 December 2024. According to the Commission,the transfer Order’s provisions include: “Direct Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to incorporate a subsidiary (EEDC SubCo) to assume responsibilities for intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Imo State from EEDC, and that EEDC shall complete the incorporation of EEDC SubCo within 60 days from 27th June 2024. The subcompany shall apply for and obtain licence for the in
By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade.
The planned unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) by the Federal Government, portends great dangers as stakeholders would be in fear and tredipation if it is allow to take place, the President, Nigeria Labour Congres(NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero has said.
In a statement signed by NLC and made available to News Mirror, the labour leader picked holes in the exercise, saying it would not bring any benefit to Nigerians.
According to him, the issue implies that the country cannot controll, regulate and guarantee the safety of the nation’s grid system at all times, adding that the idea behind the so-called plans to restructure the transmission segment of the nation's electricity sector is equal to semantic spoken before and during the failed privatisation exercise of the industry.
The main motive, he said, behind the plans for the proposed restructuring is non other than to prepare the TCN for eventual take over by the cronies and lackeys of the ruling elite.
He said the masses and workers become frightened whenever the government speaks about unbundling because the word foisters pains and misery on them.
He noted that unbundling heralded the death of the downstream sector of the nation’s petroleum sector, coupled with the fact it raises ugly specter whenever people are facing serious socioecon-omic challenges.
He reasoned that President Tinubu is making the same mistake previous administrations have made with the policy direction his Minister of power is trying to follow in seeking to unbundle TCN for privatization.
He added:”We had thought that the President would have convened a genuine national stakeholders’ forum to critically review the Privatisation exercise in the sector which the government itself agrees has failed to attain any of its major objectives rather than seeking to embark on another exercise that would bring more crisis to the Power sector.
“The disaster that will befall the nation’s power sector would be multidimensional. The quest to ultimately handover the Transmission infrastructure would expose the nation to blackmails and weaken the ability of the sector to transmit and distribute power around the country. Privatizing it will create the same crisis prevailing within the DISCOs and GENCOs and will impact the quality-of-service deliverance by the Power sector to Nigerians.
“It has to be remembered that we protested against a nation that was hell bent on committing suicide in the power sector 10 years ago. We talked about the consequences that Privatisation exercise was going to be for the Power sector and for Nigerians but it was not heeded.
“Today, Nigerians have witnessed 500 percent tariff increase yet, there is no improvement in services to Nigerians. The Power sector remains stagnant as no significant investment was made by those who bought the GENCOs and DISCOs through proxies. What we are reaping today are the unfortunate outcomes of the errors of yesterday and it is obvious that we are bent on going the same route.
“As we write, government has paid about N2.8 trillion in subsidy for a sector it handed over to the private sector. A sector it sold at About N400 billion yet, it has spent multiples of that in tax payers’ funds as pay outs to those who bought the privatized entities.
“Consequently, the sector has been handed over to banks due to the inability of the proxy investors to pay their loans to the banks. The, managerial and Technical competence as well as Foreign Direct Investment has eluded the power sector as result of this primitive economic policy. It is this same route that the Government is proposing to follow again.
“The consequences of what the government wants to do especially to at a time when Nigeria is today leading other countries as headquarters of nations suffering from Power poverty will worsen the predicament of the nation’s Power sector. Its attendant macro-economic implications for our nations are huge and will worsen the already bad socioeconomic situation in our nation.
“Nigeria’s economy would be worse in the next 10 years if a conscious power policy devoid of undue influence by neo-liberal economic apologists is not designed. We need to wean not only our power sector but our entire economy from the apron strings of the forces of capitalism and its philosophical foundations if we are to make real progress as a nation.
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