Power sector suffering due to quack electricity installers ― Stakeholder

The National President of Licensed Electrical Contractors Association of Nigeria (LECAN), Chief John Etim has said that the activities of quacks in electrical installation in Nigeria are responsible for the crisis in the power sector.

Chief Etim while speaking with journalists at the inauguration of Executives of the Abuja Chapter of LECAN said the Distribution Companies (DISCOS) allow quacks to handle electricity installations, thereby resulting in a constant power outage.

He said in other countries, non-licensed individuals were not allowed to install electricity, but in Nigeria, the case is different.

“Today is the inauguration of the Abuja Chapter of the Association. LECAN is very important to the society because it mediate between the customers and the Distribution Companies (DISCOS) because LECAN members that is licensed to wire the houses, to do every electrical installation in Nigeria before the DISCOS or the supply authorities will now connect power to the building.

“The problem in Nigeria today is because the laws are not enforced, if you leave this country to even the West African countries without your licence, you cannot even mount a switch on the wall.

“But here in Nigeria, everybody is given electrification projects, and whoever that is given that is not a professional, whatever that person does become the standard for the person, that is why we are having problem in the power sector, most of the problems we have is not even generation, it is the distribution, faults everywhere.

“The DISCOS are not even helping matters because they do not have qualified people who are doing the work, and the DISCOS are compromising, they are not allowing the licensed contractors to function as the law provides, so because of that, they just use quacks, and whatever the quacks do becomes a standard for them, meanwhile, that their standard is not the standard for the power sector, and it creates the problem that we find every day, there are light one minute, the next minute trips off because of fault”, Chief Etim said.

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He, however, said “our message Nigerians is that any electrical installation you want to do, make sure you use licenced contractors. LECAN members are licensed to handle all electrical installations.

“Most of the installations that are not done by licensed contractors, cheap materials are used because they want to maximise profit, and that causes a problem in the power sector”.

The Newly elected LECAN president, Abuja Chapter, Goddy Mba said the target of the new Executives was to purge the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of quack electricity installers.

He said the major problem power is facing in FCT is quack electricity installation.

“In FCT, we are going to do so much in solving electrical problems, because some of the problems we are having is because there are so many quacks out there, people are not getting what they pay for.

“We are trying to see how we can bring in those people that are outside there, help them to get their certificates so that they can join the Association and we all work together, we don’t want to see quackery anywhere, we want to minimise it in Abuja. The worst thing that is happening in Abuja in electricity matters is quackery”, he added.

 

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