Headline

Expect Stable Power Supply by 2023, Say DISCOs

Published

6 years ago

July 25, 2018

Eric

Electricity distribution companies said on Tuesday that the country would not be able to achieve uninterrupted electricity supply in the next five years if the challenges hampering the progress of the power sector were not addressed.

The Discos stated this through the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Mr Sunday Oduntan, at a press conference in Lagos.

Oduntan described the liquidity crisis in the sector as a major issue, stressing the need for the government to put in place a cost-reflective tariff.

He said, “There is a need for collaboration among stakeholders in the sector to proffer solutions to the problems. So, we are willing any day; if we are called today for discussions, we will be there because we know that our businesses are at risk. This is very important for all of us to note: if the Discos collapse today, many Nigerian banks will collapse too.

“In case you don’t know, when they were selling the entities, only one of the Discos had foreign direct investment. All the others borrowed money from local banks, and they paid for the assets in dollars. The point is that those who have put their money in the sector will be the first persons to wish that the system succeeds, because the failure of the system means their money is also going down the drain.”

The ANED spokesman, in an apparent response to the views expressed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, added, “We should not continue to politicise issues in the power sector. Whatever ANED has said so far, I implore fellow Nigerians to please check whether we are lying. Let’s discuss issues and not personalities. We have no reason to lie. For us, we have a lot of things at stake because if there is sufficient power supply, efficient distribution by us and if we do all that we are supposed to do, then we will make more money.

“So, it is in our interest for all of us to work together and find solutions to the problems of the sector. If we do that, everybody will be happy; the customers will be very happy.”

He said the issue of metering had been politicised even as the Discos expressed their willingness to support the recently introduced Meter Assets Provider Regulations.

The MAP Regulations 2018, introduced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, is aimed at eliminating estimated billing practice, attract private investment into the provision of metering services, and close the metering gap through accelerated meter rollout.

Oduntan added, “The issue of metering is no more in the hands of any Disco in Nigeria. The regulator, of course, through the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, has taken over the issue of metering; that is the reason for that MAP regulation.

“They are the ones that should now tell us what we should do, and we are ready and willing to cooperate with the NERC to ensure that this thing becomes successful. However, our own metering that we have been doing, sometimes in trickles, will continue. But we are waiting for the MAP regulation to start so that we can all meter our customers.”

The ANED spokesman said the provision of meters to customers would eradicate the issue of estimated billing and contention over it.

He said, “But we should not miss the point, because I remember that our honourable minister still advised us to go and meter our customers. Maybe he has forgotten that he has removed that from our own duties, and that now is the duty of the MAPs.

“We are hoping to do everything possible to make the MAPs successful from our end as Discos, and we are ready to partner and cooperate with the Federal Government in any way possible but we should not all forget that the sector is bleeding, and that is why we are where we are.”

The Punch

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

1 week ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”