By Mohammed Shosanya
The Nigeria Consumer Protection Network,has urged the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, and his incoming administration to address the crisis and corruption that produced the privatised power sector in Nigeria.
The measure was necessary in order to give the in-coming administration roadmap to robust economic growth,its President,Kunle Olubiyo,said in a statement available to Premium News.
The incoming administration should priority to electricity generation and supply in order to revamp the Nigerian economy,he said,adding that it should consider urgent review of the entire gamut of the nation’s power sector,according to the statement.
He said: “The privatisation exercise was marred and flawed with vested interests and corruption. And so the monopoly of the Discos (distribution companies) cannot take us to the promised land, it should be reviewed.
“This is because the law, without litigation, provides a 10-year window, from 2013 to 2023. So this year, we will be having the opportunity to exit that cobwebs of regulatory entanglement with which the country was arm twisted.
“Therefore this year, we expect a total review of the licence regime, where some Discos were made landlords and owners of some regional electricity distribution hubs. That should be broken.”
He advocated the need for the power distribution companies to be broken into smaller units with a view to creating a situation where competition and not monopoly will drive the electricity sector in the downstream, and not what we have at the moment where consumers do not have options.
He implored the incoming government should encourage more licenses in the upstream arm of the sector, in order to have many investors invest in developing the country’s vast crude oil and gas resources.
He reasoned that,as a nation with abundant energy resources, there is a need for energy sufficiency,so as to help encourage industries to create jobs in the country.
He added:”So the major concern of the incoming administration should be how to address the issue of energy security.The entire regulatory ecosystem should be overhauled. We are prepared as non-state actors, to sit down with like-minds in the Office of the Vice President, which deals with power sector issues, and proffer solutions, for the expectations of Nigerians are high.”
