Lifestyle

Several parts of Abuja will experience blackout Tuesday- AEDC

No Comments

The Abuja Electricity Distribution (AEDC) has announced there will be power interruption in parts of Abuja due to annual maintenance on its 2X15MVA B52 injection substation on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

AEDC management, in a statement in Abuja, said that the entire Wuse II, Aminu Kano Crescent, Kumasi, Libreville, Buchanan Crescent, Agadez Street, Parakou Crescent, FCDA Quarters would be affected by the outrage.Other areas are the FERMA headquarters, NEMSA office, Dar-Es-Salam Street, Lingu Crescent and environs.

Similarly, the company said 132kV Gwagwalada-Apo Line 1 in Abuja would be out of supply to enable the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to carry out maintenance on the line between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.”

Areas and customers to be affected include Games Village, National Stadium, Eye Clinic, Galadimawa, Suncity Estate, Kabusa Gardens, Human Rights Radio, parts of Lokogoma, Trade More Estate (Lugbe), Aco Estate, Aso Estate, Lugbe Across, Railway Station, Karmajiji, Kuchigoro Villages, EFCC, Coca-Cola, Utako District, and Wuye District,” the electricity company said.

AEDC added;

While we regret the inconvenience, please be assured that it is intended to ensure better service delivery.

Lifestyle

Anambra man shoots brother dead over electricity bill

No Comments

A man, Peter Orji, has allegedly killed his elder brother, Godwin, during an argument bordering on the payment of N1,500 electrical bill at their residence in Uruagu, in the Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

It was gathered that the brothers were at home when they started arguing over Peter’s refusal to pay N1,500 for his monthly electrical bill on Tuesday.

As a measure to get him to pay the money, it was learnt that power supply into Peter’s flat in the house was disconnected.

A source in the community said Peter, who was angered by the development, stormed into his flat, brought out a gun and allegedly shot his brother to death.

After perpetrating the crime, the suspect reportedly rushed to the nearest police station and surrendered himself to the police to avoid being lynched by angry mob.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, however, said the suspect was arrested contrary to claims that he willingly surrendered himself to the police.

Ikenga said the wife of the suspect was first arrested at the crime scene, adding that the couple were currently in police custody.

Ikenga said the state Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, had ordered that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigation.

Politics

Nigeria moves to sell electricity to four West African countries

No Comments

Nigeria is in talks with four West African countries expected to buy unused electricity from it.

The deal will be done through a planned $570 million Northcore Power Transmission Line.

The acting Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Chairman, Executive Board of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, stated this on Wednesday during the WAPP meeting on the Northcore project in Abuja.

According to Daily Trust, about 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity is said to be unutilised daily across the Generation Companies (GenCos) in Nigeria and could be exported.

“The power we will be selling is the power that is not needed in Nigeria. These generators that are going to supply power to this transmission line are going to generate that power specifically for this project. So it is unutilised power,” Abdulaziz said.

He also noted that Nigeria is expecting new generators to participate in the energy export for the 875 kilometre 330 kilovolts Northcore transmission line from Nigeria through Niger, Togo, Benin to Burkina Faso.

“In addition, there are some communities that are under the line route, about 611 of them which will be getting power so that there won’t be just a transmission line passing without impact.”

The project is funded by World Bank, French Development Council and the African Development Bank.

Speaking on the benefits, the WAPP chairman noted, “Nigeria has the greatest advantage among these countries because the electricity is going to be exported from Nigerian GenCos. So from that, the revenue is going to be enhanced and a lot of people will be employed in Nigeria.”

The Secretary General of WAPP, Siengui Appolinaire Ki, said: “The cost is about $570 million and the part of the investment in each country is funded by the country and they are supported by the donors, and Nigeria is taking its own.”

He also said the funding agreement is ready as they await the disbursement.

Business

FG spends N50bn to subsidise electricity for Nigerians – Power minister

No Comments

The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, said on Tuesday the Federal Government spends over N50 billion monthly on electricity.

The minister, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Aaron Artimas, stated this when he received the Guild of Actors and Film Producers in his office in Abuja.

He said: “Worried by the incessant complaints by ordinary Nigerians over the unavoidable and periodic increase in the cost of electricity, the Federal Government has been subsidising electricity supply in the country to the tune of over N50 billion.

The funds are provided to augment the shortfall by the Distribution Companies (DiSCos) who have failed to defray the cost of bulk electricity supplied to them by the Generating Companies (GenCoS).

“However, following a minor increase in the tariff regime, the subsidy has now decreased by half, but still constitutes a serious drain on the nation’s economy.”

Mamman expressed concern over the failure of the DiSCos to stabilise their operations to meet their financial obligations to other players in the sector.

He said it was in response to this unfortunate development that the federal government was forced to partly subsidise the sector to reduce the burden on ordinary Nigerians.

The minister added: “Nigerians must understand that these companies were privatised long before the advent of this administration but the government has no alternative than to continue managing the sector before a final solution is secured.

Through the Presidential Power Initiative and other intervention measures, the government is diligently working to massively resolve all these inherited problems that have continuously frustrated the success of the sector.”

Mamman claimed that most of the DisCos were sold off and managed as family businesses, a development that has hampered its effective management.

Business

SERAP wants World Bank to publish records on electricity projects funded with $500m loan

No Comments

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the World Bank President Mr David Malpass “to exercise the Bank’s prerogative to release archival records and documents relating to spending on all approved funds to improve access to electricity in Nigeria between 1999 and 2020, the Bank’s role in the implementation of any funded electricity projects, and to identify and name any executed projects, and Nigerian officials, ministries, departments and agencies involved in the execution of such projects.”

The World Bank Board of Directors had last week approved $500m “to help boost access to electricity in Nigeria and improve the performance of the electricity distribution companies in the country.”

But in the application dated 6 February 2021, and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization urged the Bank to “explain the rationale for the approval of $500m to implement electricity projects in the country, despite reports of widespread and systemic corruption in the sector, and the failure of the authorities to enforce a court judgment ordering the release of details of payments to allegedly corrupt electricity contractors who failed to execute any projects.”

SERAP said: “This application is brought pursuant to the World Bank’s Access to Information Policy, which aims to maximize access to information and promote the public good. There is public interest in Nigerians knowing about the Bank’s supervisory role and specifically its involvement in the implementation of electricity projects, which it has so far funded.”

According to SERAP, “The $500m is part of the over one billion dollars available to Nigeria under the project titled: Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Program. We would be grateful for details of any transparency and accountability mechanisms under the agreement for the release of funds, including whether there is any provision that would allow Nigerians and civil society to monitor the spending of the money by the government, its agencies, and electricity distribution companies.”

SERAP also said: “Should the Bank fail and/or refuse to release the information and documents as requested, SERAP would file an appeal to the Secretariat of the Bank’s Access to Information Committee to challenge any such decision, and if it becomes necessary, to the Access to Information Appeals Board. SERAP may also consider other legal options outside the Bank’s Access to Information framework.”

The letter copied to Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, read in part: “SERAP believes that releasing the information and documents would enable Nigerians and civil society to meaningfully engage in the implementation of electricity projects funded by the Bank, contribute to the greater public good, and enhance the Bank’s oft-stated commitment to transparency and accountability.

The World Bank has been and continues to be involved in overseeing the transfer, disbursement, spending of funds on electricity projects in Nigeria. The Bank also reportedly approved a $750 million loan for Nigeria’s electricity sector in June 2020 to cut tariff shortfalls, protect the poor from price adjustments, and increase power supply to the grid. As such, the World Bank is not a neutral party in this matter.

“SERAP is seriously concerned that the funds approved by the Bank are vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement. The World Bank has a responsibility to ensure that the Nigerian authorities and their agencies are transparent and accountable to Nigerians in how they spend the approved funds for electricity projects in the country, and to reduce vulnerability to corruption and mismanagement.

SERAP also believes that the release of the requested information and documents is of paramount important to the public interest in preserving the legitimacy, credibility and relevance of the Bank as a leading international development institution. The Bank ought to lead by example in issues such as transparency and public disclosure raised in this request.

“It would also demonstrate that the Bank is willing to put people first in the implementation of its development and governance policies and mandates, as well as remove any suspicion of the Bank’s complicity in the alleged mismanagement of electricity projects-related funds.

The information is also being sought to improve the ongoing fight against corruption in the country and the provision of regular and uninterrupted electricity supply to Nigerians as a fundamental human right.

“The information requested is not affected by the “deliberative” “corporate administrative matters” or “security and safety” exceptions under the Policy. The information requested is crucially required for Nigerians to know how the funds released to the authorities to improve electricity supply in the country have been spent, and monitor how the funds are being used.

SERAP’s report, titled: From darkness to darkness: How Nigerians are paying the price for corruption in the electricity sector documents widespread and systemic corruption in the electricity sector, and reveals how about N11 trillion electricity fund was squandered by successive administrations in Nigeria since the return of democracy in 1999.

“This report raises specific questions of public interest, and the World Bank ought to be concerned about how Nigerian authorities are addressing reports of widespread and systemic corruption in the electricity sector, and to seek some answers from the authorities on the problems.

However, as the report shows, the Bank’s funding of the electricity sector has not resulted in corresponding access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply. Successive governments have failed to provide access to regular and reliable electricity supply to millions of the citizens despite budgeting trillions of naira for the power sector.

“Millions of Nigerians still lack access to free pre-paid meters. Authorities continue to use patently illegal and inordinate estimated billing across the country, increasing consumer costs, and marginalizing Nigerians living in extreme poverty, disproportionately affecting women, children and the elderly.”

SERAP therefore urged Mr Malpass to:

  1. Disclose and release information and documents relating to spending of funds approved and released to Nigeria between 1999 and 2020 to improve access to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply, including copies of supervision reports, periodic reviews and other appropriate reports on the Bank’s role in the spending and disbursement of the funds, as well as specific projects on which the funds have been spent.
  2. Disclose implementation status and results and completion reports on the electricity projects that the Bank has so far funded in Nigeria.
  3. Disclose information on the of level of involvement of World Bank in the implementation of electricity projects between 1999 and 2020.
  4. Disclose information on agreements and the mechanisms the Bank is putting in place to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of all funds on electricity projects in Nigeria.
  5. Disclose the terms and conditions of all electricity projects related funds that have been approved for Nigeria between 1999 and 2020

Lifestyle

Rivers lawyers to protest over electricity bills

No Comments

Hundreds of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company customers who are mainly lawyers, on Thursday, stormed the Port Harcourt office of the company to express their displeasure over what they described as “exorbitant estimated bills” adding that they have also sent a petition to the Rivers state House of Assembly seeking their intervention in record time.

The angry electricity customers threatened to embark on a protest if the lawmakers failed to call officials of the electricity distribution company to order and address their plight.

One of the protesters who only gave his name as Mark said despite the epileptic power supply they get in each month, they receive huge bills.

He said, “Imagine a flat would be paying bills of N32,000 to N37,000 even in the absence of copious electrical appliances.

“You can imagine power would be supplied for less than 30 minutes and it would be seized. We don’t even have any access to them to make our complaints. At the end of the month, exorbitant bills are given to us.”

Another angry customer said even when there is an electrical fault, the distribution company continues to send bills to them, adding that her letter of complaint was not replied to.

“PHED officials just distribute bills without reading the metres, sometimes there won’t be light when our fuse is unplugged, yet they are still bringing bills, I have written to them, but till date, they have not responded to my letter.

“Because soon we’ll hit the streets and have a nationwide protest especially in Rivers state.”

Efforts to get the response of the PHED’s acting Manager, Corporate Communications, Chioma Aninwe, proved abortive, as she did not respond to calls and a text message sent to her phone.

Politics, World News

Nigerian Government Directs NERC To Suspend Adjusted Tariff.

No Comments

The minister said there was a committee working on the new electricity tariff regime and the committee should be allowed to complete its work

The Nigerian Government has directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to suspend the recently adjusted electricity tariff.

The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, made this known in a statement on Thursday.

NERC had on Tuesday increased the electricity tariff payable by power consumers across the country. The hike in tariff which varies, based on different consumer classes, took effect from January 1, 2021.

The regulatory agency blamed the N2 to N4 adjustment in tariff on inflation and movement in foreign exchange rates. Labour unions have threatened showdown over the development, saying the government was insensitive to the plight of Nigerians, considering the fact that there was an increment in the last two months.

But in the statement on Thursday, the minister said there was a committee working on the new electricity tariff regime and the committee should be allowed to complete its work before any development or adjustment.

Mamman, therefore, directed NERC to suspend the recent increment until the committee concludes its work by end of January.

He said, “The public is aware that the Federal Government and the Labour Centers have been engaged in positive discussions about the electricity sector through a joint ad-hoc Committee led by the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity and Co-Chaired by the Minister of State for Power. Great progress has been made in these deliberations which are set to be concluded at the end of January, 2021.

“To promote a constructive conclusion of the dialogue with the Labour Centers (through the Joint Ad-Hoc Committee), I have directed NERC to forestall the implementation of the duly performed minor review (which adjusted tariffs between N2 per kWh and N4 per kWh) until the conclusion of the Joint Ad Hoc Committee’s work at the end of January 2021.

“This will allow for the outcome of all resolutions from the Committee to be implemented together. The Administration is committed to creating a sustainable, growing, and rules-based electricity market for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

Business

Manufacturers want uniformity of electricity tariff

No Comments

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called for a uniform electricity tariff, saying the current structure favours some regions and strain others.

It called on the Federal Government to prevail on the electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to unify the tariff nationwide.

President of MAN, Engineer Mansur Ahmed, in a statement, said that the purpose of the call for uniformity is to create a level playing ground for manufacturers in Nigeria.

“These tariff differences in some instances are as high as 25 per cent, making it impossible to ensure fair competition amongst manufacturers. The resultant effect of this tariff differential is that manufacturers under the DisCos with higher tariff rate sell at a loss in order to sustain the market share and if action is not taken urgently, the affected manufacturers may be forced to close down with looming adverse effect on employment and the economy,” he said.

The inadequacy of electricity supply he said has been one of the major challenges hindering the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in the country as manufacturers spend over 40 per cent of the production overhead on electricity leading to an increase in the cost of operation and prices of local goods.

Business

FG extends suspension of new electricity tariff by 1 week

No Comments

The Federal Government has extended the suspension of the new electricity tariff by one week.

Prof. James Momoh, Chairman, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said this when the ad hoc Technical Committee on Electricity Tariff submitted its interim report at a reconvene bilateral meeting between Federal Government and Organised Labour on Monday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new tariff was earlier suspended for two weeks and ended at midnight on Oct. 11, when the organised labour suspended the planned industrial action over agitation on the hike in electricity tariff on Sept. 28.,

It would also be recalled that the the committee which was Chaired by Mr Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour is to examine the justifications for the new policy in view of the need for the validation of the basis for the new cost reflective tariff.

It was also agreed that while the committee carries the justification that electricity tariff should be reduced for two weeks.

Momoh while speaking, said the one week extension new tariff said was to enable the committee to review and work out modalities for the implementation of the agreement reached on the electricity tariffs structure.

Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, while reading a resolution reached between the Federal Government, Organised Labour and the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Electricity Tariff said that adoption of the work plan for effecting the resolutions has been reached.

Ngige said the resolutions adopted would be implemented by all stakeholders within the week by Sunday, Oct. 18.

According to him, the following amendments to the resolutions were adopted include, phase one immediate reliefs.

“Using of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) VAT proceeds to provide relief in electricity tariff. This is to  leverage on the VAT from the NESI, the increases experienced by customers due to the transition to the Service Based Tariff will be reduced.

“That is Band A – 10 per cert reduction, Band B – 10.5 per cert reduction and Band C – 31 reduction,” he said.

He said on the acceleration of National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

It was adopted that for the distribution of the first one million meters, the Ministry of Power was to liaise with Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA).

He added that they are to start work by Oct. 12, to accelerate the roll out of meters with a target of December 2020.

The minister, therefore said that the meeting agreed that it would work towards bridging the metering gap.

“The Federal Government committed to provide six million meters and NERC is expected to compel the DISCOs to meet the metering needs of the customers,”he said.

Ngige  also said on the resolution adopted for the Local procurement for Meters for National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) that organised Labour would to work with government to improve and ramp up local production capacity.

He  also said that the resolution adpoted on  salary protection for electricity workers was that NERC should ensure that the personnel costs of electricity workers should be placed on first-line charge on the Primary Collection Account.

He added that the process would commence from Monday , Oct.  12.

“On the issue of mandatory refund for any over billing during system transition by the DISCOs that NERC should implement immediately within October.

‘While on the freezing of customer band migration during the interim period that the revised NERC order will include specific guidelines on freezing band migration, ” he said.

Ngige also noted that the resolutions adopted for Phase two for the extensive review of key sector reforms include that the ad hoc committee would work from Oct. 12 to Dec. 12, to ensure that all outstanding issues are resolved and implemented.

He  also said the resolution adopted on gas pricing was that the Group Managing Director was co-opted into the Technical Committee to assist with the purpose.

He added that on resource capacity, the Managing Director, NEMSA is also co-opted into the Technical Committee to work with NERC on the metering assignments.

Close Menu

Privacy Policy