EXPOSED: Dirty deals in power sector

SHOCK and disbelief greeted the revelation at the weekend that the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) are alleged to be plagued by corruption and cannot account for a large chunk of the revenue they collect from Nigerians.

The managing director of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), Dr Marilyn Amobi, made the allegation during a special stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, to proffer solutions to the worsening electricity situation in the country.

Amobi’s claim was corroborated by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr Louis Edozien, who lamented the decline in the revenue collection capacity of DisCos to 45 per cent instead of 65 per cent.

The revelations were contained in a statement on the meeting from the Media Office of Saraki which stated that the Senate President decried the current poor electricity supply and the attendant negative consequences on development in the efforts to move the country out of recession.

According to Amobi, DisCos’ failure to remit the revenue they further collect from Nigerians is caused by ‘bad behaviour,’ a veiled reference for corruption.

She further said that revenue generated by NBET was better before the liberalisation of the power sector when compared to post-liberalisation period.

This she blamed on lack of proper accountability and supervision of the DIsCOs by Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and lack of proper auditing.

The Permanent Secretary lamented that power generation has gone down to 3,000MW/H from a 7,000MW/H generating capacity with a 12,000MW/H connected load.

He further cited low tariff and what he described as “payment transparency and discipline” as some of the challenges facing electricity generation and distribution.

In their contributions at the meeting, representatives of gas producers and suppliers traced their inability to supply adequate gas to the electricity generating companies to vandalism and the inability of the Generation Companies (GenCos) to pay for the already supplied products.

They insisted that the terms of gas supply and payment were on the basis of “willing sellers and buyers.”

The gas producers and suppliers consisting mostly of Shell Petroleum and Total Petroleum complained of security challenges that usually result in the vandalism of their pipelines, hence their inability to meet demands in some cases.

Other stakeholders blamed the distribution companies for lack of compliance with the agreed terms on remitting generated revenues from consumers, manifesting in consumer discontent, payment default as well as unstructured and unserviced debts.

The revelations reportedly prompted the Senate President to direct that a public hearing be conducted by the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy to identify the problems and make recommendations on the way forward.

The  public hearing is also expected to verify the claims and counterclaims of non-remittance of revenues between the NBET, DIsCOs and GenCos as well as uncover how the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed the N213 billion intervention fund to the power sector.

The public enquiry will also look into why BPE, which serves on the Boards of the DIsCOs and GEnCOs, is finding it difficult to effectively supervise and audit the electricity generation and distribution companies.