The Federal Government, on Wednesday, said that it will take away the licences of power distribution companies that were purposefully depriving customers nationwide of electricity, causing widespread blackouts in Nigeria.
It said that some Discos were not distributing the power that the Transmission Company of Nigeria was supplying to them, which had led to a pitiful supply since this year, despite efforts by the Federal Ministry of Power and energy generating businesses.
Since January 2024, there has been an awful shortage of power in numerous towns and cities across the nation, leaving residents in the dark for weeks on end.
In a post on his official X handle on Wednesday, the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, lamented the poor supply of electricity across the country, stressing that this was despite efforts by the government to tackle the challenge.
He, however, pointed out that findings by his ministry revealed that some power distribution companies were willfully not distributing electricity to end users in their various franchise areas.
Adelabu said, “It is disheartening to witness the decline in power supply despite the concerted efforts to improve the situation. The ministry has been exerting pressure on the generating companies to enhance their performance, resulting in a recent increase in generation to over 4,000MW.
“Despite this progress, certain distribution companies are failing to adequately distribute the power supplied by TCN, while vandalism of power infrastructure exacerbates the problem in regions such as Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan.
“Moving forward, I am committed to holding all distribution companies accountable for their performance. Willful non-performance will not be tolerated, and severe consequences, including licence revocation, may be imposed.
“Additionally, I have instructed TCN to prioritise repair works on damaged transmission towers and power lines to improve supply in affected regions.”
Recall that earkier report had it that despite the widespread blackout and the worsening state of electricity supply in Nigeria, latest figures on the daily load summary of power distribution companies indicated that the firms failed to distribute about 1,769.91 megawatts of electricity between February 1 and 14, 2024.
The report pointed out that data from TCN showed that though some of the power firms received excess electricity load allocation during the period, most of them failed to utilise all the quantum of energy allocated to them by TCN.
The report also quoted Adelabu as saying in an earlier statement that “findings revealed that some distribution companies were deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN while some power lines were also damaged by vandals in Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt and Ibadan regions.”
Nigeria has 11 power distribution companies and they include Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt and Yola Discos.
The report, which gave details of the daily quantum of power rejected by the Discos, stated that on February 1, 2024, for instance, seven of the power distributors failed to utilise a total of 128.62MW of electricity, while four others including Benin, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Yola took a cumulative excess load allocation of 61.91MW.
By taking excess load, it means the Disco’s actual energy consumption for that particular day was higher than the load allocated to it by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
However, the actual consumption figures of most Discos are usually lower than their allocated load, leading to unutilised or rejected energy by the power distributors.
Meanwhile, in his Wednesday’s post on X, Adelabu reiterated that he had summoned some power distributors and TCN over the poor power supply situation in Nigeria.
The minister also noted that “during recent supervisory visits to power generating plants, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by the sector.”
He added, “Plans are underway to settle outstanding debts owed to power generation and gas supply companies, which will alleviate the financial strain and contribute to improved generation levels nationwide.
“I urge electricity consumers to remain patient as we work tirelessly to address these issues and provide better service to all Nigerians.”
Nigerians are, however, watching and hoping to see a positive change in the country’s power supply as promised by the minister.
