New owners of Electricity companies, complain of mounting challenges in the sector

New owners of electricity generation and distribution companies on Wednesday reeled out the multifaceted challenges confronting them since they took over the power firms from the Federal Government.


The investors, who described the setbacks in the sector as “overwhelming,” spoke at the first general meeting organised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for new owners of the power distribution and generation companies in Abuja.

They also denied claims that they fired about 50 per cent workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, stressing that the employees were retrenched by the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kano Distribution Company, Dr. Jamili Gwamna, said power allocation to his Disco had been far below expectation, a development that had decreased the firm’s revenue “drastically.”

He said, “Our power allocation has been low in recent times. So how on earth will customers pay me and how will I pay money also? There has not been power and when you threaten to disconnect consumers, they tell you to hurry up with the disconnection process.”

Gwamna stated that although, it was not time for Discos to make returns on investment, NERC should appreciate the enormity of the problems that they find on the ground.

The Director, Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, observed that there was widespread confusion in the public as touching the handover of PHCN to private operators.

She said, “There’s so many confusion in the public and we need to look at how to address this. For instance, the public believe that they are not supposed to pay anything until January; that they shouldn’t be disconnected until then; and they believe they can come and stand in front of you and collect pre-paid metres just like that.”

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