FG Goes after Saboteurs of Power Reforms

Federal government has threatened to wield the big stick on saboteurs of Nigeria’s power sector reform exercise and called for support of Nigerians to see to the conclusion of the sector reform.

Prof. Chinedu Nebo, minister of Power, said the federal government will resist any attempt to hobble the smooth transition of systems in Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) in line with its ongoing privatisation of successor companies created off the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

Nebo spoke at the two-day technical session on review of milestones in the road-map for the country’s power sector reform exercise organised by the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP).

“I want to believe that it is due to decades of neglect and un-sustained infrastructural investment and reform of the sector that brought us to where we were before the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan.  The power sector development is ongoing, but will take time, money and more importantly the support of all Nigerians to see to the conclusion of the sector reform.

“In this regard, I have observed with grave concern the increasing frequency in system collapses of our grid and hereby encourage the operatives of this segment in the TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) to be extra diligent and vigilant. I shall not entertain frivolous reasons for continued system collapses.  Owners of this process must sit up or be prepared to ship out.”

Nebo also pointed out that the government will immediately bring down its weight on officials of successor PHCN distribution companies found to be sabotaging revenue collection rates and processes in NESI’s transition stage, adding that such practices amount to extra liabilities to the government.