Power supply depends on standard network, materials

NIGERIA Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) has said that safety, reliability, quality, and efficiency of power supply to populace largely depend on quality of networks and systems built according to specification and standard.

Speaking at an inauguration of Ilorin Zonal Electrical Installation Contractor Certification Panel (ZEICCP) in Ilorin at the weekend, the Managing Director/ CEO of NEMSA, Mr Peter Ewesor, said that aging equipment and network were not causes of frequent electrical network/system collapse and failure as regularly adduced.

Mr Ewesor, who said that many lapses had been identified in the power sector and other workplaces where electricity was used, added that such lapses included design and construction failure, improper planning and execution of electrical projects and use of sub-standard materials and equipment.

He said others included deliberate oversight of the procedure, codes and requirements for executing electricity projects as specified by regulations and standard codes of practice, lack of adherence to standard construction and installation, including inadequate safety provision during construction and subsequent utilisation of network.

“These lapses are largely responsible for the networks getting into issues of disrepair soon after commissioning them for use, and not aging equipment and network as regularly adduced as the causes of frequent networks/system collapse and failure”, he said.

Also speaking, Mr Alabi Muyiwa, said that the key objective of certification was to ensure that only skilled, experienced and competent professional engaged in business of electrical installations in Nigeria.

“I look forward to a time in Nigeria when there would be a regulation in force that only holders of this certification would be able to buy electrical materials in market as it is practised in some other parts of the world. This will ensure that only certified contractors participate in electrical materials because it will be documented against the buyer and the seller”, he said.