Nigeria’s ailing power sector may totally collapse if the incoming government fails to take urgent steps in reviewing extant privatisation exercise and tackle the lingering corruption in the sector, Nigeria Consumer Protection Network (NCPN) has said.
The group specifically insisted that there is a need to break monopoly of distribution companies created under the 2013 privatization exercise. Coming as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu as the president-elect, the group insisted that the power sector is flawed and marred by vested interests.
President of NCPN, Kunle Olubiyo, noted that the prevailing monopoly in the sector must be broken, saying that such monopoly of the distribution companies will not take the sector anywhere.
“This is because the law, without litigation, provides a 10-year window, from 2013 to 2023. This year, we will be having the opportunity to exit that cobwebs of regulatory entanglement with which the country was arm twisted.
“Therefore, this year, we expect a total review of the licence regime, where some Discos were made landlords and owners of some regional electricity distribution hubs. That should be broken.” Olubiyo believes that breaking the DisCos to entities would create a situation where competition and not monopoly will drive the electricity sector.
“Our advice to the incoming administration is to review, as a matter of urgency, the entire gamut of the power sector privatisation exercise,” he stated.
Olubiyo called for the development of the gas sector for gas to power, stressing that there is a need to prioritise energy security.
“As a nation with abundant energy resources, there is a need for energy sufficiency, as this will help ginger industries to create jobs. The major concern of the incoming administration should be how to address the issue of energy security.
“The entire regulatory ecosystem should be overhauled. We are prepared as non-state actors, to sit down with like-minds in the Office of the Vice President, which deals with power sector issues, and proffer solutions, for the expectations of Nigerians are high,” Olubiyo said.
