The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Thursday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the protection of electricity consumers.
Speaking at the signing of the MoU, which was held in Abuja, the Chairman of NERC, Mr Sanusi Garba, said NERC and FCCPC had been working together in the last two years to ensure consumer protection.
He said the signing of the MoU was to consolidate the area of cooperation between the two agencies in order to avoid the two regulators working against each other, adding that the issue of consumer protection in the power sector was something that nobody in charge of either evaluating or regulating the policy could be in a comfortable position.
“Arising from infrastructure deficit and also the challenge of the metering gap, we have a challenge of making sure that consumers actually get the service. The MoU we are signing today is a very important step, whereby two government agencies charged with regulating different aspects of the nation are coming together to collaborate in terms of synergy and pulling their resources together.
“So, we are coming together to make sure we find a solution. I welcome you and look forward to a productive engagement as we work over the year to ensure that consumer protection is achieved, ‘’ Garba said.
Also speaking, the Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera, said NERC and FCCPC had a history of collaboration and had been working together.
Irukera said the commission had been receiving more complaints, noting that the more they resolved them, the more they came, just as he disclosed that the fact that people laid complaints was an indication of the vibrant resolution mechanism and confidence in that mechanism.
“Those are things that are also included in the MoU; how we can collaborate to think through what materials and structural changes need to occur,” he said.
