How to resolve challenges in power sector, by BPE

The Acting Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr. Vincent Onome Akpotaire has assured that continuous interaction coupled with the commitment of the power operators as well as the political will of the Federal Government are critical to resolving emerging challenges in the sector.

Akpotaire who stated this during an interactive session with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the 11 Power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in Abuja said that with concerted efforts by all critical stakeholders in the sector, such challenges are surmountable.

He called for an enhanced synergy between the Successor Companies (SCs) of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the Bureau to boost efforts towards actualising the full objectives of the power sector privatisation.

He enjoined the SCs to improve on their efforts to honour the performance agreement in the power privatization exercise, stressing, “I am optimistic that with the required synergy, periodic reviews with stakeholders and commitment to the performance agreement, the objectives for the nation’s power sector would be achieved.”

Akpotaire said that lack of investment in the sector in the past 40 years had now come to the fore with the privatization of the sector and that immediate solutions would not be achieved within two years of privatization. He, however, said with the steps taken by the Federal Government so far to address the prevailing challenges there was a hope of efficient and effective power supply in the country.

The Acting Director also informed them that the Bureau was not an approving agency but the secretariat of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP). He said the essence of the interaction was to look at the contending issues with a view to escalating them to the NCP.

Speaking on behalf of the Successor Companies (SCs), the Managing Director of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBDEC), Mr. John Donnachie, acknowledged the Federal Government’s efforts at managing the issues militating against the sector.

According to him, DISCOs and GENCOs had benefited from such efforts through the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET) and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN)’s N213 billion intervention fund.

Donnachie called for additional intervention through the Bureau to secure more investment from the Federal Government by financing the 40 percent equity held in trust by BPE for the Federal Government.