Minister of Power, Engineer Abubakar D. Aliyu, Wednesday, marked his 50 days in office and promised to promote competition and bring in more participants in the Nigerian Electricity Market.
Aliyu in a statement he personally signed and a copy obtained by Blueprint in Abuja, while describing the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of March 2005 as revolutionary, said efforts are ongoing to fully implement the act to ‘match up’ with the huge sums invested by the government.
He lamented that payments collected by the Discos from consumers did not cover the full investment and costs of the GenCos, saying that the development was a huge burden on the federal government.
The minister said: “Hopefully, we will soon begin to experience the imminent turn around in the power sector. We will promote competition and bring in more participants in the Nigerian Electricity Market (NEM)’’.
“The Electric Power Sector Reform Act of March 2005 is quite revolutionary. We are working on its full implementation to match up with the huge sums invested by this administration to realize our objectives in the Sector, which are very much achievable.
“Against the backdrop of the reality that the delivery of electric power is a multi-sectoral undertaking, specific areas of conflict and tensions within the power industry value chain are being harmonized for greater synergy which will bring about a wholesome alignment of responsibilities within the governance system of the power sector.
“The payments the DisCos are able to collect from consumers do not cover the full investment and costs of the GenCos who produce and sell the power, and Transmission Company of Nigeria which wheels the power to the DisCos. Federal Government financial support is required to cover the shortfall, resulting in a huge burden on the government.
“We are determined to deal with some policy issues, the legal and regulatory bottlenecks, and the human factors involved in the implementation and coordination of the power sector’s road map. Though clearly a work in progress, let me assure you that the viability of the sector is not in doubt. As much as it is a capital-intensive sector and currently in need of massive injection of fresh capital, we are making steady progress’’.
