Engineer Sanusi Garba, today, December 3, 2020, formally assumed office as the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

This is according to the statement issued by the media team of the NERC via the official Twitter handle of the Commission.

Professor Momoh hands over to Engineer Sanusi Garba

Professor James Adeche Momoh has handed over to Engineer Sanusi Garba in a ceremony witnessed by Commissioners of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Engineer Sanusi thanked Professor Momoh @NERCNG

— NERC Nigeria (@NERCNG) December 3, 2020

Engineer Garba whose appointment was confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday will be replacing Professor James Momoh, the outgoing chairman of the Commission.

Speaking at the handover ceremony today, the New Chairman of the Commission recognized the efforts and the hard work of Prof. Momoh and thanked the outgoing chairman for his contributions to the development of the Commission and the sector in general.

However, Professor Momoh on his part pledged his continuous support to the Commission and thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity to serve the country.

What you should know

• The new Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Engineer Sanusi Garba is a seasoned professional in the Nigerian Energy Supply Industry (NESI), and also a top officer in the Commission.
• Prior to his nomination as the Chairman of NERC, Garba served as the Vice Chairman of NERC, under the leadership of Prof. Momoh. He also served as the Chief Executive of Katsina Steel Rolling Co. Ltd and the Director (Power) in the Federal Ministry of Power with responsibility for the Generation, Transmission and Distribution aspects of the electricity industry.
• He also served as Executive Director (Generation) at the Niger Delta Power Holding Co. Ltd during which he provided technical and commercial leadership for the efficient operation of seven (7) NIPP thermal power plants.
• Engr Garba, who is a seasoned professional has served on many Federal Government Committees including the Presidential Committee on Power Sector Reform (2007/8) and the Presidential Task Force on Power (2009/10).

President Muhammadu Buhari said he will enforce tough measures against any electricity distribution company (Discos) or their agents selling prepaid meters to their consumers, against the directive that they should be distributed free.

According to a report from Punch, this disclosure was made by the Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, Ahmed Rufai Zakar, who represented President Buhari at the FGN/NLC-TUC ad-hoc committee on electricity tariff stakeholders engagement in Ibadan, Oyo State on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.

He said the President understands the plight of Nigerians on issues surrounding electricity and is determined to deal with bad elements.

(READ MORE: Power: Distribution of meters resumes in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and others)

What they are saying

He said, “We have made it very clear through the regulator’s direct order, as well as intervention from the Ministry of Power that the meters are to be provided to Nigerians at no cost. Even for meters that were paid for, there is the directive from the regulator to the discos that they would need to find a way to reimburse those citizens over time.

“In cases where we find any disco or disco representatives selling the meters or exploiting Nigerians to be able to get meters by paying, we would take the full measures of the law. The President has mandated that these meters must be free. We have also said that they must come from local manufacturers. This would create jobs and revive our industry.”

What you should know

• The President had earlier directed that 6 million prepaid meters manufactured or assembled locally should be made available to electricity consumers to stop their opposition against estimated billing and even increase in electricity tariff.
• While stating that he remains committed to the protection of poor and vulnerable Nigerians from increased electricity tariffs and arbitrary estimated billings, the President said he is working to ensure that Discos commit to increasing the number of hours of electricity supply everyday and improve on the quality of service.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has restored the collapsed electricity grid system across the country.

This was disclosed by the Acting Managing Director of TCN, Mr Sule Abdulaziz, during a media briefing on Wednesday.

According to the TCN boss, the system which collapsed on Sunday evening was restored within 40 minutes of the incident.

He said, “The company immediately went into action and stabilised the system in Abuja, before other parts of the country. There is nothing strange but it is normal for a system to collapse and that can happen in any country of the world.

“Since I came on board, we never had any system collapse and this one that happened on Sunday was restored immediately which is the fastest system collapse recovery. We are guarding the grid, we don’t want the system collapse to happen, but when it happens, the most important thing is what was done and how it was done to restore the system.”

What you need to know

Three days ago, Nairametrics reported that the recent power blackout in the country was due to multiple trippings.

General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN, Ndidi Mbah, who made the announcement through a statement said the company had started the process of restoration to the national grid.

Mbah pointed out that the places that power is yet to be restored were Calabar, Makurdi, Jos, Gombe, Yola, Ugwuaji and Maiduguri axis.

She stated, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) regrets to inform electricity consumers nationwide that at 11:25 am today, the nation’s electricity grid experienced multiple trippings, which led to the collapse of the system.’

“TCN has since commenced grid restoration; power has been successfully restored to every part of the country, except Calabar, Ugwuaji, Markurdi, Jos, Gombe, Yola, and Maiduguri axes. The effort is however ongoing to ensure full restoration nationwide.”