Fashola urges DISCOs to patronise local meter manufacturers
Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing.
• Govt to distribute 115, 000
Against the backdrop of scarce foreign exchange, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday urged Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to patronise local meter manufacturing companies in the country.
The minister, who spoke yesterday while flagging off mass distribution of pre-paid meters at Kabuga business unit of Kano Electricity Distribution Company KEDCO in Kano yesterday, explained that such patronage was necessary to encourage the production of meters by the local manufacturing companies in the country and preserve scarce foreign exchange.
“Patronising the local meter manufacturing companies is the way to diversify and save foreign exchange,” he said.
According to the minister, government would be distributing about 115,000 pre-paid meters across the nation this year alone while also expressing the commitment of government to ensure adequate power supply in the country soon next.
He assured that the implementation of the nationwide metering system would open windows of opportunities of job creation to teeming unemployed youths.
Fashola, who emphasised that the quality of locally made prepaid meters in Ogun State are of high standard and equal qualities with those imported from China and India want the DISCO to contribute to local content.
While commending KEDCO’s effort for fulfilling the mandate of providing meters to customers and involving their customers in the distribution, Fashola uses the occasion to challenging other distribution companies to toe the line of KEDCO.
According to Fashola, “We want to urge Nigerians not to panic over the current power situation in the country because the federal government is working day and night to overcome the power challenges facing the country”.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of KEDCO, Alhaji Jamilu Gwamna, said the company had purchased more than 63, 000 meters to be distributed to its customers.
Gwamma said that the inauguration of the scheme would go a long way in checking the issue of crazy bills, in addition to ensuring effective service delivery.
“Our intention is to ensure that by 2020, the company will be the most valuable company to compete favourably with other companies in the country,” he said.
Also speaking, the Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano, Prof. Yahuza Bello, called on the minister to use the magic wand he used in Lagos to improve power supply in the country.
“The power sector has a lot of challenges, and with low power supply, we are spending N6 million weekly on diesel to power our generators in the university,” he said.
Bello said that if power supply improved in Kano, the management of the university was ready to pay the money to KEDCO to enable it serve its customers better.
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3 Comments
Correct Mr VC, let them improve and payment will follow. The FG should make it mandatory for the power distribution company to acquire their meters from Nigeria, not outside since we have it here.
why is it in Nigeria people in authority still talk like this?!.. “working day and night” “use the magic wand” “toe the line” “open windows of opportunities”…. what manner of tales by moonlight speech is this? I understand that English is not our mother tongue but please STOP speaking in parables!!! You all sound like cliches and your words can not be taken seriously because it sounds like those nollywood scripts. What ever happened to simple clear einglish where your yes is yes and your no is no you don’t have to decorate your sentences with Achebe’s rhetoric.
Rant aside Fashola there is nothing like local meter manufacturing companies, maybe local meter coupling companies but I can bet you that the price of the china airfreighted meter would still be cheaper than the Nigerian coupled meter. so you have to do more that advise; perhaps you give the companies buying or coupling these meters a tax rebate would make a more powerful statement.
and so after the government sold of PHCN to different DISCOs why is the government still distributing meters?
and Fashola I have gone past panicking over the current power situation I am now depressed. I wake up everyday to darkness and feel like lying under my duvet for ever or at least till the sun comes out to wake me up. So Fashola stop urging Nigerians leave that to our pastors and Imams …. just solve Nigeria power issues!!!!
It is not enough to advise the Discos to purchase local meter, you have mandate it and back it up with funding. Any industry receiving or using government fund, must be made to purchase locally. The power sector is getting a lot of fund from the government, they should be mandated to purchase their meter from local producers.
Why are celebrating the distribution of 110k meters, when the nations needs millions. we have the capacity to install a good number of meters in one year if the government and the power sector works together. What is wrong with a credit scheme, whereby Disco order meter from the local producers on credit, install the meter in customers homes, and then customer would pay for the meter on a monthly bases. The government would regulate, monitor and guarantee payment for the meter to the local producers. The government would also quickly train a huge workforces to ramp up the installation of the meters across the country.
We will review and take appropriate action.