DisCo Apologises to Nigerians Over Poor Electricity Supply
- DisCo has issued a public apology to Nigerians over worsening electricity supply in recent weeks
- ANED chief executive Sunday Oduntan warned the sector was repeating a damaging pattern of blame-shifting last seen between 2016 and 2019
- Oduntan called on Power Minister Joseph Tegbe to convene a meeting of gas suppliers, NNPC, TCN and NISO to find solutions
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The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has apologised to Nigerians for the deterioration in electricity supply recorded across the country in recent weeks, while raising concern over the exchange of accusations spreading through the power sector.
ANED's chief executive, Sunday Oduntan, tendered the apology on Monday, November 9, during an appearance on Channels Television's Sunrise Daily programme.
He acknowledged the difficulties the outages had caused households and businesses.
Source: Getty Images
Oduntan said:
"I'd like to first of all start by apologising to Nigerians. An apology is needed; it is essential because Nigerians have been taken through this problem over the past few weeks."
Blame game returns to power sector
Oduntan's apology came after several electricity industry operators issued separate statements over the weekend seeking to distance themselves from responsibility for the shortages.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited all offered explanations about the causes of the electricity supply challenges.
Oduntan said this was a worrying return to a pattern that plagued the sector between 2016 and 2019, when distribution companies, generation companies, transmission operators and gas suppliers routinely blamed one another for poor electricity supply.
He said:
"Our major problem is that we have started that very wrong route that we went through between 2016 and 2019. What is that? Blame game."
He also questioned the explanations offered by NISO and NNPC. NISO had partly attributed the supply shortfall to low water levels and insufficient gas reaching power generation companies, but NNPC subsequently said gas was available.
Oduntan said NNPC's response left critical questions unanswered, particularly whether outstanding payments were disrupting gas deliveries to power plants.
He said:
"From the NNPC statement, it is very clear that they came to tell us half-truths. What I would have expected NNPC to do is to go ahead and tell us whether there are payment issues. We need to know whether gas was paid for and delivered, who did, who didn't."
Source: Getty Images
Oduntan urges Minister of Power to step in
The ANED chief executive called on the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, to take charge of resolving the disagreements among electricity sector operators.
He said the minister should bring gas suppliers, NNPC, TCN and NISO together to establish the actual causes of the electricity supply problems and agree on solutions.
Oduntan said:
"This back-and-forth blame game among gas suppliers, NNPC and, of course, TCN or NISO, I think the Minister of Power needs to take charge. There is a need for this leadership because, at the end of the day, they need to call them together."
Source: Legit.ng
