Electricity: New Owners Complain Of ‘overwhelming’ Problems

New owners of electricity generation
and distribution companies on
Wednesday reeled out the multifaceted
challenges confronting them since they
took over the power firms from the
Federal Government.
The investors, who described the
setbacks in the sector as
“overwhelming,” spoke at the first
general meeting organised by the
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission for new owners of the power
distribution and generation companies
in Abuja.
They also denied claims that they fired
about 50 per cent workers of the
defunct Power Holding Company of
Nigeria, stressing that the employees
were retrenched by the Bureau of Public
Enterprises.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer, Kano Distribution Company, Dr.
Jamili Gwamna, said power allocation
to his Disco had been far below
expectation, a development that had
decreased the firm’s revenue
“drastically.”
He said, “Our power allocation has been
low in recent times. So how on earth will
customers pay me and how will I pay
money also? There has not been power
and when you threaten to disconnect
consumers, they tell you to hurry up
with the disconnection process.”
Gwamna stated that although, it was
not time for Discos to make returns on
investment, NERC should appreciate the
enormity of the problems that they find
on the ground.
The Director, Benin Electricity
Distribution Company, Mrs. Funke
Osibodu, observed that there was
widespread confusion in the public as
touching the handover of PHCN to
private operators.
She said, “There’s so many confusion in
the public and we need to look at how
to address this. For instance, the public
believe that they are not supposed to
pay anything until January; that they
shouldn’t be disconnected until then;
and they believe they can come and
stand in front of you and collect pre-
paid metres just like that.”
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