Senate Committee Chairman on
Privatization, Ben Murray Bruce has given a shocking revelation on Wednesday
that there was no solution to electricity crisis in Nigeria for now.
He was reacting to a motion
raised by Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi West Senatorial district over
epileptic power supply and exploitative activities of some power distribution
companies.
Dino explained: “Mr President, distinguished colleagues, I want to draw the attention of the Senate to the exploitative activities of some power distribution companies by over-billing the citizens for energy not consumed.”
Saddened by the unfortunate
development in power industry despite huge resources government had invested,
Senate Ben Bruce explained that, “there was no solution in sight,” to the
epileptic supply of electricity in the country.
He also pointed that the private
investors never envisaged the free fall of the nation’s local currency, a
situation he said had contributed to sustained epileptic power supply.
He said apart from lacking the
capacity to run power company, the investors came into the business
erroneously, assuming that government would subsidize the power sector.
The DISCOs according to Bruce are
“technically bankrupt” and as such cannot afford to pay for millions of meters
needed for accurate billing system.
“We have a catastrophe in our
hands and there will be no electricity in the current arrangement,” he said while
asking that Nigeria revisits the entire privatization process.
Melaye had in his motion urged
the Senate to mandate the committee on Power to look into the astronomical
electricity billing by DISCOs across the country.
He also asked the Senate to urge
the National Electricity Regulatory Commission to call DISCOS to stop forth
with the practice of estimated billing and alive in their regulatory role of
protecting electricity customers.
Chairman, Senate Committee on
Power, Eyinnaya Abaribe told the senate that a report on the matter is waiting
to be laid; requesting it to suspend further debate on the matter until the
details of his committee findings is considered.
Meanwhile, all the prayers were
sustained.
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