The ministers also highlighted the need for collaboration in tackling the challenges that could hinder the power sector from achieving full potential.

The ministers spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Power Sector Working Group held at Power House, Ministry of Power, Abuja.

Addressing the ministers, Adelabu emphasized the importance of the power sector as a major driver of economic growth adding that that was in tandem with the vision of President Bola Tinubu for the power sector who he said saw the power sector as the driver of the other sectors of the economy.

“The president meant his words that he would give us all the support, all the backings and the inspirations we require to turn around this sector. He has kept his word since he assumed office. The improvement we have witnessed in the power sector is not unconnected to the backing and support of the president to all the policies and all the activities of the ministry. And we are grateful for all the support. Just few days ago, July 27 specifically, we successfully generated and transmitted 5,105 megawatts of Power, the highest ever witnessed in the last three years. The capacity before now had always hovered around 4000megawatts or below. But within a year of taking over, we have had about 25 per cent increase. We are actually on the track towards achieving the president’s instruction to us that by the end of December, we must achieve a landmark generation and transmission of 6000 megawatts.”

According to Adelabu who spoke on the reason for setting up the ministerial working group, the power ministry was on the right track towards achieving the presidential mandate.

“We will not only focus on generation and transmission but also distribute it to the doorsteps of households, of businesses, of institutions and of industries in Nigeria. So that they can feel the reforms and transformation in the power sector. Having realized this, we believed that power is not something that should be left alone to the Ministry of Power and its agencies because there are lots of supportive ministries without which we cannot achieve our mandate,” he said.

He noted that there had been a lot of informal meetings, gathering and conversation regarding activities in the power sector and how to inter-relate and inter depend on each other.

Said he: “We now felt we needed to bring ourselves together in a formal, official setting where all these issues would be discussed and everybody would be on the same page.”

Adelabu said, presently, 75 per cent of Nigeria’s power generation comes from power gas plants while about 25 per cent comes from the hydro-electric power plants.

He stated that “We have our large and small dams everywhere and we are still counting. At the same, we are focusing on generating power in a sustainable and environment-friendly manner. This is why we talk about renewables, through solar, wind and small dams, from this, you will know that the Ministry of Water Resources is key to the success of the power sector and they have been doing wonderfully well. That is why they had to be part of the Inter-ministerial power sector team.

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The minister further underscores the importance of gas in power generation: “Thermal generation goes with Gas. Gas availability in terms of quality, transportation and availability is key to all our power plants. The problem we had in January and February that led to shut down of Generating Companies (GENCOS) and blackout was due to short supply of gas in terms of quality and quantity, including pipeline vandalization. The petroleum resource ministry is key to the raw material we need to generate over 70 per cent of power in the country. So, if we do not cooperate, we do not collaborate, we do not partner, success would be far in the power sector, that is why we have the Minister of State, Gas as a key member of this committee.”

The minister also spoke on the focus on renewable energy source and clean power.

According to him, “We are migrating to more environmentally-friendly energy sources from our natural environmental-  from sunshine, small dams, desert and offshore wind and supporting us in this regard is the Federal Ministry of Environment”.

He noted the importance of finance in achieving the Power sector objectives.

He said it was on the basis of that that Ministries of Budget and National Planning and Finance were also incorporated into the Inter-ministerial working committee.

Adelabu acknowledged some Departments, Agencies and Parastatals, that are also important in achieving the power sector objectives such as the Bureau of Public Enterprise, BPE; National Council on Climate Change, NCCC; Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA;  Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, including the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Infrastructure who is also a member.

He added that if there was need to incorporate other agencies, it would be one.

On the terms of reference of the group, the minister said it was to activate seamless power sector liquidity and financing.

Also to provide guidance in the governance structure particularly in the electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, to also look into “our energy transition programme, how do we transition into our net zero emission target in year 2060. We are working with the Ministry of Environment and NCCC and also focusing on our vision 30-30-30 by year 2030, which is to generate 30000 megawatts of power, out of which 30 per cent will come from renewable energy in year 2030.”

He also spoke on areas that would be covered such as the Intergrated Resource Planning, IRP, in order to ascertain the national power need and how to achieve it.

Also speaking, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, who was in attendance with the Minister of State in the Ministry Hon. Bello Goronyo acknowledged the importance of collaborating with the Power Ministry.

He said, “Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Power are like brothers and sisters and we will do everything possible to work together to achieve the renewable energy agenda of the President in making life better for Nigerians”.

Minister of the Environment who was represented by the Minister of State, Hon Iziaq Adekunle Salako, spoke similarly, while emphasizing the importance of the Power Sector in economic development.

“There is no doubt that power is central to everything. Virtually everything we do these days have elements of Power. So, we need to take the power sector very seriously. It is central to everything that we do”.

He emphasized the importance of the environment ministry adding that power generation, transmission and distribution have impact on the environment.

“The Ministry of Environment is essentially a regulator in this process through some of our agencies and the Ministry,” he said.

He noted that in all the power sector value-chain process, waste is generated.

“And how to manage this waste is important to us. As we go-ahead to develop our power sector, we are also developing a process to manage the waste that will come out,” he said.

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The Force spokesperson, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, gave this clarification on Saturday night in a statement.

Traders at the complex have been protesting against the planned demolition.

On Friday, commercial activities at the complex were paralysed following the running protest by traders over the demolition plan.

Shops and stores were opened for business on Thursday while the protest lasted, but on Friday, all the gates leading to the complex were locked.

The traders, led by the leadership of the complex, displayed a banner showing the court injunction they secured to prevent the demolition of the complex.

Adejobi, however, said it has become imperative to properly establish that the complex, a property of POWA, which was officially allocated to wives of Police Officers and their relatives, has been scheduled for demolition.

According to him, the demolition was to enable the Force commence immediate construction of a modern shopping complex on the same land.

“The decision to demolish and reconstruct is predicated on the fact that professional opinion indicated that the structure as it is, constitutes a looming environmental hazard, as the site is prone to flood and may collapse.

“There is also the need for immediate landscaping and reconstruction. The planned demolition and reconstruction will be in phases and is in good faith for the best interest of all concerned.

“All necessary legal requirements have been duly met. The current occupants of the complex have been given more-than-enough notice of the demolition to enable them evacuate from the facility in good time.

“Necessary steps have been taken to temporarily accommodate them within the same complex, while the reconstruction lasts.

“Equally, the relevant Lagos State Government agency, according to its expert advice, has been approached, required help sought, and necessary approvals for demolition obtained,” he explained.

Adejobi further said that while the demolition will proceed as planned, Nigerians were urged to disregard frivolous and unsubstantiated claims as well as media blackmail alleging wrongdoing and illegality on the part of the Force or the POWA.

He pointed out that the Police and their affiliates, like the POWA, would always be committed to better welfare and standard of living for its personnel and their families.

Source: NAN

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Lawan gave the charge in his concluding remarks on a motion considered on the floor during plenary on Tuesday.

The motion titled: “Power Sector Recovery Plan and the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic” was sponsored by Senator Gabriel Suswam (PDP – Benue North East).

The Senate President, who bemoaned what he described as the “inefficiency of Power Generating and Distribution companies” in the country, called for a review or eventual reversal of the terms of privatisation.

According to Lawan, parties involved in the shared purchase agreement with the federal government can only seek the intervention of the latter when sufficiently justified.

“The power sector has been privatised as we all know, but it has not delivered. We gave them our common patrimony and they still came back to us as Distribution Companies (Discos) and Generating Companies (Gencos) to look for money from the public.

“I think the time has come to review, and probably reverse this privatisation because if we stay as it is today, for the next ten years there will be no power in Nigeria, as the situation is. So we need to be decisive about the power sector.

“We expected efficiency and effectiveness in power supply, but I think on both sides, the shared purchase agreements were maybe not adhered to. But definitely what is obvious is that the Discos have no capacity at the moment to give us power.

“The Gencos have challenges too, and I think it is not a good commentary that we should continue to give them money after we sold them. These are businesses now, they are private businesses.

“If there are areas that we must intervene as a government, then it must be seriously justified, but the way it is, I think there is need to review this privatisation and see what has really happened, because something is certainly not right.

“And for the next ten years, if there is nothing fundamental and drastic in this sector, nothing like power will be stable in Nigeria, and that will be unfortunate.

“So, it is good our committee is investigating even the previous billions, in fact over a trillion. I mean that’s a lot of money and there must be justification for this.

“We hope that they will be effective, but in the event that this thing is not addressed properly, there will be need for Government really to look into this privatisation that has taken place, because probably the wrong investors took over or maybe government is not fulfilling its own promise,” Lawan said.

Earlier, sponsor of the motion, Senator Gabriel Suswam explained that following the outbreak of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government through Ministry of Finance intimated the leadership of the National Assembly of plans to establish a N1.7trn Intervention Fund to be utilised to upgrade healthcare facilities across the country.

The lawmaker stated that “while the appropriate Executive Bill that will articulate the actual use of the proposed N1.7 trillion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund is yet to be presented to the Senate for consideration, the devastating impact of the pandemic on the power sector has necessitated the need for the Senate to draw the attention of the federal government to the need to include the sector in the disbursement of the proposed fund bearing in mind the vital role of stable electricity supply to current efforts towards jumpstarting the economy which is still groaning under the impact of the pandemic.”

Suswam noted that, “stable and uninterrupted power supply is also a critical factor in the management of COVID-19 patients at the designated isolation and treatment centres across the country as well as  in the implementation of the proposed upgrade of healthcare facilities.”

According to him, “prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant negative impact on the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), the NESI was already facing teething operational constraints including the absence of cost-reflective tariffs, inadequate enumeration and metering of consumers, limited access to funds for investment, poor revenue generation, and high levels of Aggregate Technical Commercial and Collection losses.”

He recalled that the Senate as a clear demonstration of its commitment to proffer lasting legislative solution to the challenges confronting the NESI recently mandated its standing committee on power to brainstorm with relevant stakeholders to identify all constraints with a view to addressing them in the interest of the Nigerian economy.

The lawmaker, however, raised concerns that “the COVID-19 pandemic has further impacted negatively on the NESI as the Distribution Companies reported 50 percent loss of their monthly average revenue collection for the months of March and April 2020.”

He said that “if the negative impact of COVID-19 on the NESI continues without any emergency financial intervention from the federal government, Discos already facing dwindling revenues in the wake of the pandemic may not be able to meet their remittance obligations to the market as set by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in December, 2019 Tariff Order.”

Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC – Kogi West) in his contribution said, “when privatisation came up, we were told that it will accelerate the economic development of our nation. We were told that it will create more jobs for people.

“Today, Mr. President, virtually all sector that were privatised, I’m sure are worse than before they were privatised. Power Holding was privatized. I do not know how many of us that can boast that we have regular power supply.”

Accordingly, the Senate in its resolutions while commending the federal government for the proactive initiative to establish the N1.7 trillion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund, urged the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to include the Nigerian Electric Power Sector in the disbursement of the proposed N500 billion Intervention Fund.

The upper chamber also mandated the Senate Committee on power to investigate all federal government interventions in the power sector since the privatisation of the sector to date with a view to ascertaining the adequacy of such interventions.

It also mandated the committee to investigate all market participants in the power value chain and ascertain the level of corporate governance compliance in the Nigerian Electricity Industry.

While urging the Federal Government to suspend the planned tariff increase which is scheduled to take effect from July 1, 2020, the upper chamber called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to allow operators in the power sector access to foreign exchange for procurement of equipment and materials.

The Senate also urged the Federal Government to consider additional tariff support to cushion the effect rate shock over a fixed period to allow time required for TCN and Discos to access funds and implement performance improvement investments that will support increased tariffs to certain classes of customers especially during the pandemic.

The Upper chamber after consideration of the motion adjourned plenary till Tuesday, June 2, 2020.

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Osinbajo stated this when he paid a courtesy visit on the Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Chike Edozien, on Friday in Asaba.

“Since assumption of office, we have invested so far in terms of support N700 billion in the power sector. Earlier, we invested N200 billion.

The vice president said further that the federal government was in the process of investing another N600 billion in the sector.

On futher steps to improve power supply in the country, the vice president said that the federal government had decided to take a second look at the power sector.

According to him, one of the reasons why there were  challenges in the power sector was that each of the Distribution Companies (Discos) controlled a particular territory.

“And now we are saying that any company that wants to provide power to any territory should be able to provide power for the territory and the people.

“We have been able to break the existing monopoly in the power sector. Whether upgrade or not, the discos should be able to serve the people.

“Another strategy we are trying to introduce is to open up the power sector by restructuring,” he said.

On the second Niger Bridge, Osinbajo said that the project was very important to the Federal Government.

According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari did not only negotiate for the equipment being used for the construction of the bridge, but was also paying special attention to the project.

“I was here six weeks ago to look at the progress of the work there and I must say that the project is going on well.

“I hope that very soon we should be completing not just the bridge, but also all surrounding infrastructure both here in Asaba and the other end of the bridge,” he added.

Earlier, in his address of welcome, the Asagba of Asaba noted that poor power supply had been a major challenge in the Delta capital and appealed to the federal government to intervene in the situation.

He also appealed to government to compensate the people of Asaba on the 1967 massacre which claimed many lives, by establishing a federal university in the town.

According to him, Asaba was the only state capital in Nigeria without a federal university.

Source: NAN

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The Managing Director of TCN, Mr Usman Mohammed, made this known at the organisation’s quarterly news conference in Abuja on Thursday.

Mohammed said that TCN had raised significant amount to reinforce the system under the critical investment programme.

“As at today, the amount we have raised from multi-lateral donors has risen to 1.661 billion dollars to execute some power projects in the country.

“These projects include the Abuja Wheeling Scheme that will bring five sub-stations and bring a new supply route to the territory.

“The new route will be from Lafia to Abuja with 330 Kilo Volt (KV) line and two 330KV sub-stations in Abuja and put additional three numbers 132 KV sub-stations in the territory,’’ he said.

He said that the contract for the power supply project had been signed and divided into six slots, adding that 10 contractors had been pre-qualified.

According to Mohammed, the company had also recovered 775 power equipment containers out of 800 abandoned at the ports due to tariff related issues, while two have been declared missing, and two empty.

“We discovered that two containers were missing and we have reported to the police and they are investigating the matter,’’ he said.

He, however, did not tell the contents or the value of the missing containers, but pledged to work with his team to recover them.

Mohammed explained that TCN “is going to recover about 2,000 to 3,000mw with the present upgrade of its equipment which automatically means the grid will shift from 8,000MW to at least 10,000 MW.”

The TCN boss said that the company had used their staff to forcefully take over some contracts and those contracts were at the point of completion.

He noted that in spite of the massive investment so far recorded by the sector from the transmission end, the distribution companies were yet to match it with a proportional upgrade of their equipment.

That, according to him, was responsible for the frequent system collapses in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry.

Source:  NAN

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