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The Nigerian Business Leaders Forum has warned that the Nigeria Power
sector is heading for a total collapse under it new minister, Engr. Sale Mamman.
The group in a press statement in Lagos lamented that the
amount of electricity generated by the nation’s power plants is
roving below 2,500 megawatts as at weekend , dropping drastically by
over 800MW in 24 hours.
National Coordinator of the group Dr. Austin Iwe Igwe blamed the looming
collapase on lack of proper coordination between the Federal
Government through the Ministry of Power and all relevant stakeholders
in the power sector.
The group said power stations were forced to either shut down some of
their units or reduce their generation largely as a result of low load
demand by distribution companies, worsening the blackout being
experienced by millions of customers across the country.
“The power sector is collapsing, our generation is dropping
drastically, our transmission and distribution line are in bad shapes,
it’s time for government to declare a state of emergency in the power
sector.
“The major problem in the country today aside from insecurity is
power, therefore President Buhari should re-organize his cabinet and
put a more capable hand in the Ministry of Power, so far the Minister
heading that Ministry has not impress Nigerians, infact no progress
has been made in the power sector under his watch,” Iwe said.
For example, report showed that on September 2, the eight plants were
allowed to generate only 465.2MW, after they previously generated
520.2MW.On that day, it disclosed that in Alaoji for instance, two
units were out on the instructions of the NCC, just as another two
were equally out at the Omotosho plant for same reasons. Again, on
August 30, the plants were allowed to generate only 535.1MW from their
total capacities with two units at the Calabar plant also out on NCC
instructions to scale down.
The group lamented that the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman is not
addressing the issue effectively, “rather he complain of studying the
nation’s power sector, even the little achievement recorded under
Fashola is fast eroding due to change of policies.
“Many Nigerians don’t even know we have a Power Minister, that’s why
you see them still blaming Fashola for power problems in the country,
the new minister must roll up his sleeves else the President should
kick him out
“The issue of metering was successfully tackled by Fashola through
Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, if this scheme which is supposed to
be coordinate from the Minister’s office is effective more than a
million Nigerians should be on pre paid meter
Currently as its today, no significant activity has commenced under
Sale Mamman, the Nigeria’s power sector needs a vibrant and energetic
administrator that would be able to tackle the issue headlong, not
someone who is still grapping to understand the sector three months
after his appointment.
