The Federal Government will start disbursing N600 billion to key operators in the power sector very soon. This is according to the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) as reported by Punch.
Since the intervention fund got approved a few months ago, stakeholders in the power sector chain have been anticipating the disbursement in order to address the liquidity crisis in the sector.
According to the Managing Director of NDPHC, Chiedu Ugbo, power generation companies, suppliers, electricity distributors, and others would start getting the money in a few days.
“The NDPHC is very hopeful of the government’s intervention. It’s been very bad this year in terms of liquidity, but since government mentioned the N600bn payment assurance facility, we’ve been very hopeful and we’ve been managing.
“However, we’ve seen actionable activities on the part of government to realise that and we’ve been told that in a few days from now the payments from that fund will start. So, that hope has kept us alive and we know that government by keeping to its word, as it is doing now, we will be able to bounce back.”
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While speaking on the sidelines of an award ceremony and appeal fundraising event, Ugbo disclosed the projects the NDPHC was executing in different local government areas in the country. He said the company was trying to connect everyone to the grid while cleaning up networks to improve power supply.
However, Ugbo stated the challenges the company was facing in carrying out its supposed duties. He was optimistic that with the intervention fund, the challenges would be a thing of the past.
He said, “The challenges we face have to do with community issues and funding constraints. We rely on what we generate from the sale of electricity and there is a general revenue shortage in the industry right now. But the Federal Government is rising up to that challenge and we are very hopeful that with the intervention, we will get more funds to serve Nigerians more.”
What you should know: The N600 billion facility for the power sector was approved by the Federal Government in September this year. It was scheduled to be disbursed until June 2020.
The facility, which is contained in the 2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), is as a result of the failure of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP).
