President of Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Mr. Kunle Olubiyo, has urged the Federal Government to do a mid-term review of Nigeria’s power sector privatisation.
Olubiyo made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday against the backdrop of the epileptic power supply being experienced in the country.
NAN reports that the power sector was privatised in 2013 with the distribution and generation sub-sectors split and sold to private owners.
This was aimed at enhancing the power distribution in the country. Only the transmission component, through the Transmission Company of Nigeria, remained public property.
Since November 2013 when the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies were handed over to their new owners, Nigerians have expected an improved supply of electricity.
Olubiyo said the only way forward to the post-privatisation issue was to put in place an urgent review of the exercise.
He added that there was a need to redefine franchising which was inimical to a competitive economy or competitive electricity market
“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 said.
Olubiyo said that Government should review the contract and framework and make sure the regulator sits up and rejig the ecosystem and regulatory landscape.
He said that the impact of the epileptic power supply was quite enormous in spite of the government’s good intention.
“You will recall that government has signed a grid improvement agreement with Siemens of Germany.
“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.
