The Consumer Protection Network, has emphasized the need for the Federal Government to conduct a mid- term review of the country’s power privatisation.
President of the group,Kunle Olubiyo,explained that the development was necessary in view of the erratic power supply in Nigeria with attendant consequences on its economy.
Olubiyo,who said the only way forward to the post privatisation issue was to put in place an urgent review of the exercise,added that there was need to redefine franchising which was inimical to competitive economy or competitive electricity market
He lamented poor supply in the country recently,saying:“It is killing, it is not working, every night the issue of energy reliability and stability cannot be guaranteed, energy stability is near zero.If you move round Abuja and other cities in the country, it is usually enveloped in darkness, this is not a good picture.So we want the Federal Government to move and do a mid -term post privatisation review and redefine the contract and franchising”
He advised the government to review the contract and framework and ensure that the regulator performs its roles creditably in the power sector.
The impact of the epileptic power supply,he said,was quite enormous in spite of government good moves to improve the sector.
“The Federal Government has secured a lot of credit line from multilateral lending institutions, World Bank, African Development Bank among others for the power sector.The Federal Government has also intervened by providing funds for the National Mass Metering Programme.So there is no better time than now for government to bring all the stakeholders together and know if the grid limitation is as a result of aged equipment or deliberate load rejection, ‘’he said
