The Federal Government has accused some electricity distribution companies (DisCos) of deliberately refusing to take up power supply from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) thereby contributing to the current power crisis.
This was made known by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, expressed worry over the worsening power supply, and revealed plans by the Federal Government to query non-performing power distribution companies.
Adelabu had summoned the Chief Executives of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over worsening power supply in their region. Also summoned over the deteriorating power situation is the Managing Director of TCN, Sule Ahmed Abdulazeez.
Non-performing DisCos to be sanction, license revoked.
The minister was quoted as saying that the management of non-performing DisCos would be queried for non-performance or have their license revoked over non performance as reports continue to filter in on situation in their regions.
The statement partly reads,
- ‘’Worried by deteriorating electricity supply across the country, Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu has summoned the Chief Executives of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over the worsening power supply in their regions.
- ‘’Also summoned is the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Alhaji Sule Ahmed Abdulazeez over the deteriorating power situation. In a letter signed by the Director, Distribution Services at the Federal Ministry of Power, Engineer B.U Mustapha, the CEOs of these institutions have been asked to attend a meeting called by the Minister in the coming week to discuss issues bothering on worsening electricity supply in their regions with a view to profer a lasting solution.
- “These two DISCOs have been summoned due to the worsening power supply situation in their regions despite improved supply from TCN.’’
According to the statement, gas shortage notwithstanding, the Ministry had been putting pressure on the Generating Companies (GENCOs) to improve performance and generation has been ramped up to over 4000MW in recent days.
We expect power supply to improve
- He said, “So, we expect power supply to have improved across the country, unlike what we are experiencing in some regions, presently. Findings revealed that some distribution companies were deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN while some power lines were also damaged by vandals in Abuja , Benin, Port Harcourt and Ibadan regions”
Going forward, the Minister said focus would be on all the DISCOs to compel them to expected performance while, “wilful non- performance by any DISCO could suffice as a reason for severe punishment or outright license revocation”.
The Minister has also directed TCN to immediately commence repair works on the damaged transmission towers and power lines in order to improve supply in the affected regions.
It should go beyond query, Untill there is serious consequences for refusing power, Discos will not change. They should pay heavy fine and probably charged for sabotage.
Since I started travelling round the country, the Ibadan electricity distribution company appears to be by far the worst electricity distribution company I have seen. Apart from 2 or 3 areas representing less than 10% of Ibadan population, the rest of Ibadan is accustomed to staying for 3 to 5 days in complete darkness with the resulting shortage of water and business disruptions. It’s a hopeless situation. The worsening state of power supply in the country at large is what you get when those running the government value nepotism over merit in making allocations etc