The Nigeria Consumer Protection Network (NCPN) has urged the new Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu, to deliver on the reform programmes towards repositioning the sector.
NCPN’s President, Mr Kunle Olubiyo, made the call in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, stakeholders whose views are sampled on the recent crisis in the power sector say that electricity supply in the country remains erratic.
He said they expressed displeasure with daily power load-shedding lasting several days in most places in the country.
He said consumers would want the new minister to see to the realisation of the objectives of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) and upscale the visibility of the Ministry of Power.
Olubiyo maintained that the network also wanted the minister to align himself with the Power Sector component of the Economic Sustainability Programme and Power Sector Recovery Programme.
Other areas the Network called on the minister to improve include:
“Consolidate on the Federal Government’s efforts in closing the huge metering gap while also working towards narrowing down the wide liquidity gap.
“Requesting that the Eligible Customer Regulatory Framework be reviewed in the interest of better and fair deal and enforced to the later.
“Unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) into commercial, technical, and operational segments, inauguration of the Board of TCN.
“Decentralisation of the management of the transmission grid infrastructure.”
Olubiyo said the network was also calling on the minister to look into the mid-term review of the 2013 privatisation exercise that was earlier scheduled for five years.
He said that the review was now eight years adding that the exercise was overdue.
Olubiyo said upon the recapitalisation and equity restructuring of the GenCos and DisCos, it was expected they be listed and quoted on floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange & Capital Market.
He said the network was recommending that the new equity stake holding should be 30 per cent for the present investors in generation and distribution sub sector.
It suggested that the remaining 70 per cent equity stake holding should be spread amongst members of the public organised labour.
