FG to develop integrated national electricity policy

Federal Government is to develop an Integrated National Electricity Policy, and Strategic Implementation Plan, as mandated by the Electricity Act 2023.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on June 9, President Bola Tinubu assented to the Electricity Bill, now an Act empowering states, companies and individuals to generate, transmit and distribute electricity.

This, in turn, repealed the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), 2005 and created a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to guide the NESI.

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made this known in Abuja, yesterday, at the Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) roundtable for legislature, judiciary and other stakeholders.

NAN reports that the roundtable was on Enforcement of Technical Standards and Regulations in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and Allied Industries.

According to him, the ministry of power is working assiduously with the National Council on Power to send the policy to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.

The minister said that the Electricity Act had consolidated virtually all legislations in the NESI and strengthened the role of NEMSA as the lead enforcer of all statutory technical and regulatory standards.

This is to guarantee the safety of life and property, with complementary roles assigned to other sister agencies under their Acts.

The minister said the “roundtable was timely, and the theme was well-informed. It’s an opportunity for us to compare notes on the reforms recently brought about in NESI by the Fifth Alteration to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the re-enactment of the Electricity Act, 2023.

“It is time to take stock of where we are and where we are going. As you are all aware, it’s one of the major fallouts of the amendment to the Fifth Alteration.

“I must, therefore, commend the management of NEMSA for displaying leadership by recognising the vital roles played by not just the national state actors and other stakeholders in NESI, but pertinently, the legislature and the judiciary.”

Chairman, House Committee on Power, Victor Okolo, said there is need to ensure that all electrical installations deployed in NESI meet required technical standard regulation and specification.

Represented by Rodney Ambaiowei, Okolo said the technical standard regulation and specification is to ensure such a system is capable of delivering safe and reliable electricity supply to guarantee safety of life and property.

He said: “We have observed that NEMSA, in an attempt to enforce its mandate, has met with stiff resistance on several occasions which is attributed to lack of adequate knowledge of the agency and its function.

“However, at the end of this conference, participants would have been better informed of the mandate of NEMSA and spread the message to those concerned. On our part, we assure the agency that it will receive adequate funding and other support it needs to effectively discharge its responsibilities.”