The NERC had in a communique issued after a meeting with the DisCos on August 27, 2018, discouraged activities of the association warning it against interfering with policy directives or regulatory pronouncements made by the Minister of Power, Babatunde Fashola the Commission.
It also barred ANED from making any unwarranted remark against the minister and NERC Commissioners.
However, in a statement issued and signed by ANED’s Chief Executive Officer, Azu Obiaya on Wednesday, the association said its activities are guaranteed by Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the right of association.
According to the association, it represents the DisCos with a principal mandate of advocacy, to protect the interests of its member companies directly and, indirectly, the incomes of a 22,000-employee workforce.
The statement reads:“The DisCos, with their formation of, and membership of ANED, are exercising this right, no different from similar entities along the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) value chain, such as the Association of Power Generating Companies (APGC), Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) etc.
“The investors who have sunk more than $1.4 billion in the acquisition and operations of the DisCos to date, and our customers who seek to enjoy the benefits of the best practices that result from the interaction of our members under the ANED umbrella.”
Also, it pointed out that its expression or promotion of a viewpoint that is contrary to that of an established regulation or policy should not be construed as ‘interference’, particularly, in the context of the workings of an industry with multiple stakeholder interests.
The association said there was need to address the widening tariff gap that hinders DisCos from performing their obligations due to freezing of the residential tariffs (R2) in 2015, for 18 months, removal of Collection Losses in 2015; non-implementation of five tariff reviews.
It also said N435.7 billion of under-recovered revenue, among others, are the regulatory responsibilities NERC should focus on.
ANED further reiterated its interested in the urgent reset of the sector, with the implementation of the Power Sector Reform Program (PSRP) to stop the sector from bleeding, drive the investment that is critical for injecting efficiency and provide electricity customers respite from the current difficulties of electricity supply.
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