Task Force on Power Tackles Vested Interests

Mr. Beks Dagogo-Jack, chairman of Presidential Task Force on Power has said that vested interests exist in the power sector and vowed that the federal government would not hesitate to expose them.

Dagogo-Jack said the activities of vested interests in Nigeria’s quest to conquer its electricity challenges were glaring.

He said: “We know they exist due to the frustrations we get when we want to do certain things. They could be there in government, DISCOs etc but the President has got the political will to change the status quo for the better.

“They have been there for years, but we can’t win such interests who have been there for so long so easily.”

Dagogo-Jack however explained that the 5, 000 megawatts of electricity generation target set for December by the federal government could not be achieved due to repair jobs on key electricity installations.

He, however, insisted that the country was making progress in power reforms.

He said: “There were projects behind these projections and if we don’t have those projects in place, we cannot have power and so if you were supposed to do a particular line that was overloaded, you would have to deliver it in time and some of those projects slipped and didn’t come when we wanted them. They didn’t vanish but are behind schedule and so we will not have them now but later.”