The former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili and other experts in the power generation and distribution sector have urged the private sector in the country to rise to the challenge of opening up the power sector for more investors to come in and invest.
Saakashvili, the world renowned reformer who said this at the ongoing 7th Lagos Economic Summit, Ehingbeti 2014, added that there is need for legalization of power tariffs and urged the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to ensure that tariffs provided by private power companies were not speculated.
He pointed out that margins should be left for private companies to be profitable, adding that electricity could come from two supplies, gas power station and hydro power, insisting that monopoly should not be given on supply.
He said, “It is very important not to give anybody monopoly on your supply”.
Saakashvili condemned corruption and stressed the need for justice, adding that the punishment of corrupt public office holders would go a long way in ending corruption in Nigeria.
Saakasvile emphasized that he inherited a corrupt system that triggered the privatisation of the hydro power sector to prevent more corrupt practices in the system.
He charged Nigerians to desist from corruption, as it brings dishonesty and lack of trust in the leadership, adding that the public and private sectors need to invest in power to enable Nigerians have consistent power supply.
The former Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji, in his contribution called on investors in Nigeria’s power sector to start investing, to improve the quality of service and deliver better power supply to the citizens as that was the reason the government sold the infrastructure to them.
Nnaji said the new owners “invested to purchase but they haven’t invested to improve.”
According to him, rapid investment is one key issue, adding that the companies that purchased the distribution and generation companies must invest quickly because “that’s the whole essence of the privatization.”
He added that the privatization process would be meaningless unless those companies actually deliver on what they signed on to
“They must invest to improve efficiency of collection and the network for distribution companies. Those who purchased generation companies must invest to lift the generation figures,” he said.
Chairman of West Power and Gas, owner of the Eko Distribution Company, Charles Momoh, said that there was the urgent need for the revamping of the power infrastructure, saying the country was still using power infrastructure that built some times in 1896.
Momoh blamed the epileptic power situation across the country on the non-availability of gas and the reduction of power supply to the distribution companies.
He explained that the total gas available for Lagos State cannot power more than 500 mega watts of electricity, noting that it was currently receiving less than 200 mega watts which is down from the 400 mega watts it was promised when it took over the facility.
According to him, the Eko Distribution Company currently had the capacity to deliver 700 mega watts of electricity, but it was currently receiving only about 240 mega watts.
He added that the Eko Distribution Company had commenced the process of increasing power supply by about 500 mega watts, noting that it is talking to 45 companies interested in embedded generation and two other companies for captive power.
Follow Us