Federal Government has confirmed ongoing transfer of electricity regulatory oversight to states.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made the confirmation, yesterday, at a two-day stakeholders’ workshop organised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Lagos.
He denied reports on plans to halt the transfer of regulatory autonomy to states and conduct a test phase with a few states, which had caused comments among Nigerians on whether the minister had the power to give such directive.
Recall that in April, NERC transferred oversight of the electricity market to Ondo, Ekiti, and Enugu as the Act obligates NERC to hand over within six months after a state follows the process stipulated in the law.
“Minister suspends the granting of regulatory authority to the states? That is too far from the truth. Granting of regulatory autonomy to the states is a provision of the new Act and no one person can single-handedly go against the Act.
“It’s a provision of the law and no law-abiding officer of the state will want to go against the law. It is already included and it must be duly respected.” Adelabu said.
