Oscarline Onwuemenyi
16 March 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Federal Government on Wednesday said it would pay debts incurred by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to Distribution Companies (Discos) on first come, first served basis.
This was disclosed by a communique issued at the end of the 13th monthly meeting of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, with operators of the power sector
The communique, which was made available to newsmen on Wednesday by Mr Akeem Bello, the Personal Assistant to the Minister, said the meeting was held on March 13 at Ughelli, Delta.
The government promised to pay on this basis after receiving the report on the audit of debts owed to Discos by MDAs by the verification team which estimated the debts to be N59.3 billion.
“The report stated that all verified bills will be recommended for payment on a first come, first served basis,” it said.
The communique said that Fashola inaugurated a 115MW turbine installed by Transorp Ughelli Limited, bringing installed capacity to 620MW from the 160MW inherited by the company on privatisation in 2013.
It said that the generating company was currently generating 300MW due to shortage of gas supply.
The communique said the company assured of its preparedness to invest in facilities to increase gas supply to the power station if government created an enabling regulatory framework.
It said that the meeting re-emphasised the need to react to customer complaints more speedily.
“The meeting also received report on work being done to restore power to Magboro community in Ogun and Irele and Omotosho communities in Ondo State.
“Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reported on improved compliance with submission of audited accounts since the last meeting. The meeting agreed that NERC would be more rigorously perform regulatory duties.
“It tasked NERC to standardise reporting on financial performance, safety and customer service as a fair basis for ranking distribution companies and other industry operators,” it stated.
