ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The Federal Government has advised the incoming administration of President-elect Muhammadu Buhari not to reverse the privatisation of the power sector, saying it would set the nation’s reform process in the sector back several years and would not be in the nation’s interest.
Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo, told State House correspondents at the post Federal Executive Council (FEC) briefing, where he announced a new draft National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (NPREEE).
He said any attempt to reverse the power privatisation policy, would drag the nation backwards by several years as the reform in the power sector has progressed to the point that only adequate gas supply remains the major stumbling block.
He said, “On privatisation I think the incoming government will be ill-advised to reverse privatisation and liberalisation of power generation, transmission and distribution because any attempt to do that would be to set Nigeria back by many, many decades. The gains of privatisation are very obvious. If we can solve the problem of gas like we are talking about energy mix, we are not just going by gas we are doing hydros. It was this same administration that flagged off Zungeru hydro power plants for 750 megawatts and is in a bid to flag off Mambilla 3,050 megawatts. Shiroro has been improved, revamped; Kanji revamped and improved, the same as Jebba.
“So there is a lot of work being done by the government, however to turn back on privatisation would mean stopping all of these companies and then reversing the massive inflow of investments coming into the power sector. Nigeria’s power consumption per capita is one of the lowest in the world and that is part of the efforts of government to reverse that. So I don’t think it is in the best interest of the country” to reverse privatisation.
Nebo described as frustrating the sabotage inflicted on the country by evil-minded vandals who damage oil and gas pipelines to the detriment of their fellow countrymen.
While tendering government’s apology for the incessant blackouts nationwide, Nebo stressed that some “demon-possessed” Nigerians have been responsible as the vandals make little or no financial gains from their activities which cost about N120m every month to repair.
He pointed out that many turbines at the power plants have been idle because of lack of gas caused by the vandalism, while the power generating companies have been operating at about 30 per cent of their installed capacity.
”I have never in my life seen anything as frustrating as what we are experiencing today. Every month the Nigerian Gas Company spends a minimum of N120 million to fix gas pipelines. Every two weeks western axis pipelines are vandalised and that is pure sabotage, the eastern axis pipelines are vandalised and that is oil theft. At the end oft the day, the gas that is supposed to go to the turbines don’t get to the turbines to generate electricity.
“As I speak to you today, we have not installed capacity which is more, but available. If you give us gas right now we will produce 5,500 megawatts. But when the pipelines are in the state of disarray as there are now, in fact the recent thing they are doing is testing the integrity of the entire system. And when you have broken some things over and over again, you have to really look at the entire spectrum to make sure whether the rest of the pipeline has integrity to bear gas.
“Four major joints they are working on is going to cost them N1.5 billion. Is that the way to give light to the country? But again that underpins the problem of planning and putting all our eggs in one basket which this administration has done everything to reverse.
“So long as we continue to depend on gas which is so vulnerable and susceptible to attacks on a regularly basis…there are days I feel like just crying. You finish the repairs that took two weeks to repair, within 36 hours there are bursted again. As you finish the repairs again in two weeks they burst it again at various points.
“Well, the minister of power is not the defence minister or whatever, I can’t go and mount sentry 24 hours a day to monitor this thing but the government has been working very hard to make sure that a system is developed digitally to make sure these things are minimised.
“The past three weeks have been horrible because both the east and the west are affected and as a result, gas that is available is too small, many of the turbines are sitting there ideal. Many of the power companies are generating at 30 per cent capacity. It is not that this government has not done much, it has. Available capacity exceeds 5,500 megawatts, willing capacity exceeds 5,000 megawatts but today we are down to 2000, 3000 because of these repairs which we were hoping by yesterday (Tuesday) we would have finished to bore up 4,000 megawatts again, more discoveries are being made.
“So these are the real reasons we have darkness nationally. We apologise for that but again it is our own nationals that are doing this to Nigeria”.
Asked why no vandal has been brought to book, Nebo said, “I stand on good authority that a lot of people have been jailed; it is just that a lot of noise is not being made about it. People are being arrested, some even said how much they were paid to burst the gas pipelines, for nothing. That is they don’t get anything for bursting it but they get paid for busting it and some of them are even people involved in finding people that will fix it. So a lot is being done. Has armed robbery stopped in Nigeria in spite of all the executions? Look at what happened to many kidnappers and yet they are still kidnapping. There is a lot that needs to be done but I do hope that as our people get more educated and patriotic all these things will be behind us”.
The draft National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (NPREEE), policy was approved by FEC chaired by President Jonathan, and aims to increase access to electricity using renewable energy mix; create new business opportunities and new jobs; support global efforts towards green economies and address climate change problems.
The policy will also promote and encourage efficient use of energy and energy conservation in Nigeria, said Nebo who explained that it was part of government’s efforts to improve electricity supply in the country aside of privatisation of the power plants.
On the new draft policy on renewable energy, the minister, who was accompanied by his counterpart in the Information Ministry, Patricia Akwashiki, explained that remote areas not connected to the national grid stand to benefit immensely.
He noted that Nigeria was blessed with several sources of energy like biomass, wind, hydro, solar; and it has become necessary to address optimal use of these resources as has never been done by past policies.
He also advised on proper lighting as he disclosed that one-third of power used in the country is wasted by use of inappropriate light bulbs.
He therefore encouraged use of LED bulbs which can save the country up to 1,200 megawatts of electricity.