…Says Nigeria cannot achieve 10,000mw in near future
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
10 August 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Vice Chairman Senate Committee on Power, Senator Bukar Mustapha, has called for a review of the power sector privatisation exercise, which he said was mismanaged leading to the poor state of electricity supply in the country.
Senator Mustapha also said the country’s dream of achieving ten thousand megawatts(Mw) of electricity target in the country may not be realised in the near future.
He, however, said President Muhammadu Buhari has laid the foundation for the country’s prosperity in the last one year of his administration.
The lawmaker who spoke to reporters in Abuja expressed disappointment over the poor performance of electricity generating and distribution companies in the country.
He tasked the Federal Government to urgently review the privatisation exercise of the power sector if it wanted to achieve the desired results.
The review, he said, should be informed by the glaring inability of the generating companies (Gencos) and distribution companies (Discos) to fulfil their own part of the bargain of providing electricity in the country.
He lamented that the country is losing between N10 billion and N15 billion monthly due to some weaknesses in the power sector chain.
The lawmaker noted that if electricity generation is not adequately improved, Discos cannot perform well.
He insisted that 10,000 Mw of electricity is not achievable unless the power sector is stabilised and repositioned.
He also urged the Federal Government to take a second look at the Power Sector Act with a view to fine tuning it to serve the country better.
