The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating expenditure in Nigeria’s power Sector has blamed Distribution Companies (DisCos) of failing to meet their obligations and shortchanging Nigerians 13 years after privatisation of the sector.
Chairman and members of the Committee made the remark at its resumed investigative hearing when Abuja, Portharcourt and Benin DisCos appear before it.
Chairman of the Committee, Ibrahim Aliyu said that, despite privatisation of the power Sector which was aimed at providing stable power in the country, Nigerians still grapple with the challenges of power supply.
He said, “You know, the overall perception of Nigerians is that DISCOs are the major problem, the major setback to the noble initiative of privatizing the power sector. Because most of the DisCos fall in the hands of those that are not truly investors, that are not actually ready to invest, but take advantage of the sector. You know, nobody will agree with you that after 13 years, you could not show one particular deliberate initiative.
“I have cited an example with Abuja DISCO last time. Abuja DISCO extends up to Kontagora, but their major concentration is in Abuja, because that’s where they can make money. The larger part of Kontagora may be without electricity. They don’t bother. And to be honest, they find it not economically wise, as investors, to waste money extending lines, maybe of 300, 200, 250 kilometers to rural areas, to those other areas that they feel they will not be able to recoup their investment.
“This is not the intention of the privatization. And this is what is constantly taking us to the major. issue of probe, the issue of establishing the effectiveness or otherwise of the privatization generally. Look at the DisCos on 60% by the investors and 40% by the government.
“But if I ask you, how much have you returned as a dividend of the 40% back to the government? The answer is nil, because you always pose as those that are investing for charity at last. So these are the key issues. I have said it before we begin this meeting, maybe at the beginning of this meeting, that, you know, we have already opened talks with these investors, with the co-investors. That is the… The co-investors to their DISCOs.
A member of the Committee, Billy Osawaru lamented that, the DisCos are subjecting Nigerians to fill the gaps in their failure to provide the needed power in the country.
According to him, Nigerians are being forced to buy meter which was supposed to be given free while communities also buy transformers, Poles and other power components in order to get power in their areas which he said were always taken over by the DisCos.
Another member of the Committee, Okorie accused the DisCos of neglecting their core responsibilities citing an instance where a community was left in darkness for a long time as a result of vandalisation which the Disco failed to fix.
However, in their various submissions, the DisCos informed the Committee about the various challenges they are facing in their operations.
They cited weak infrastructure, energy theft, meter bypass and other as the major challenges that have been impeding their operations and affecting their revenues.
