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Issued at the end of the 10th monthly meeting of the Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing with operators of the Power Sector, held on Monday, November 21, 2016 at Ikot Ekpene Switching Station, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State
- Introduction
The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) chaired the tenth monthly meeting of operators in the electricity industry which was hosted by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company.
The meeting focused on identifying, discussing and finding practical solutions to critical issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, as well as a peer review mechanism for disseminating accurate information to the Nigerian public on the industry.
The operators were fully represented at the highest executive management levels, including Managing Directors and CEOs of Generating Companies (GenCos), Distribution Companies (DisCos), and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), as well as various government agencies such as the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) responsible for the regulation and development of the electricity industry.
- The meeting deliberated and resolved as follows:
- Commended the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) for completing the Ikot Ekpene Switching Station, along with connecting lines to Calabar, Ikot Abasi and Ugwuaji which increases the capacity of the national grid, link the North and the South more reliably.
- Agreed on the importance of including local communities in the commissioning of power assets, to encourage community ownership of these projects, and to ensure that local communities are given access to electricity when transmission projects are completed.
- The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing expressed disappointment at the media advertorials by the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) providing inaccurate information about MDA debts. The Honourable Minister reminded the meeting that no DisCos as at November 17th 2016, had complied with the procedure for verifying these debts for any payments by submitting complete evidence of the debts and also noted the failure of some DisCos to submit audited accounts for verification.
- Acknowledged the intention of DisCos to participate in a stakeholders’ meeting with the Consumer Protection Council in order to improve transparency within the sector.
- Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) provided the following metering updates:
- Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) informed the meeting that audited accounts by Port Harcourt DisCo have not been received, and they have been sanctioned. The status from the previous meeting remains unchanged.
- Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) listed projects to improve power supply in the South South and South East regions, noting significant progress on projects in Afam, Alaoji, Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Itu, and Nnewi.
