Mohammed Shosanya

The Federal Government has unveiled the zero draft of the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan which aims to address the pressing challenges within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

He described the policy as critical to the nation’s journey toward achieving a robust, sustainable, and inclusive power sector that meets the aspirations of all Nigerians.

Speaking at the presentation of the draft on Wednesday in Abuja,Adelabu said the NIEP-SIP is a comprehensive policy document that outlines strategic interventions across the entire electricity value chain, from generation and transmission to distribution and off-grid segments.

He emphasised that the policy is the product of extensive consultations with industry experts, key stakeholders, and development partners.

“The journey leading up to today has been a collaborative and rigorous process, driven by our collective commitment to addressing the pressing challenges within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” Adelabu added.

He said the policy framework not only responds to current realities but also anticipates future needs, ensuring that the power sector remains resilient and efficient.

Meanwhile,the federal and state governments,have disclosed plans to spend N100 billion in finance to import electricity meters into the country amid metering gap challenges.

Adebayo Adelabu,disclosed this while addressing broadcasters in Ibadan, Oyo State,adding that that this was under the Presidential Meter Initiative program.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has been making efforts to close the meter gap in Nigeria, adopting various initiatives,he said.

“In the PMI, we have made good progress in sourcing the fund for this, and it is going to be by a combination of the federal and state governments.

“Today, we have received, and we have seen about N100bn that will go into the procurement of meters,” he said.

He added that the World Bank decided to support Nigeria with the procurement of almost two million meters in the next two years through the distribution sector recovery program.

He noted that $200m out of the $500m DISREP fund from the World Bank would be used for meter procurement, saying this has reached an advanced stage.

He said:“In fact, for the World Bank, we have issued contract awards. It’s just for them to start bringing the meters from overseas and locally. Because of the capacity requirements, we can not just depend on local patronage alone. We must bring it from other clients where it’s even cheaper”.

Mohammed Shosanya

The Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria,is set to sell Ibadan Electricity Distribution to new investors,saying the development is the only measure to make the power firm more efficient.

Its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Alade,who disclosed this in Lagos recently,said that the corporation has tried to resolve the issues affecting the IBEDC, but the process has yet to be concluded.

The company which is being managed by AMCON since 2022,would be sold to investors with ”deep pockets”,he said.

He added:“In the power sector, we have Ibadan DisCo, which is under AMCON. We’ve tried as much as possible to get that resolved. And we’re in the process. We are yet to conclude the sale, but we are making very good headway in resolving Ibadan DisCo,” he said.

“IBEDC would be profitable if sold, saying it covers different states, including Ogun industrial areas.

”I believe that Ibadan Disco is the largest disco that we have because it goes across so many states like Ogun, including all the industrial areas of Ogun State. We believe that it can be made more efficient if sold to people with deep pockets who can invest, not people who just buy and not invest; they don’t have money to invest.

“With people who have deep pockets to invest in making that company more efficient and more effective, it will go a long way to helping the power sector”.