For the Records!Babatunde Fashola remark at power sector meeting

OPENING REMARKS OF THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF POWER, WORKS AND HOUSING, MR BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA, SAN AT THE 10^TH MONTHLY MEETING  WITH OPERATORS OF THE POWER SECTOR HELD ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2016 AT IKOT EKPENE SWITCHING STATION, IKOT EKPENE , AKWA IBOM STATE

 

 

Welcome to our meeting.

 

Thank you to our Host- the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).

 

 

As I said from our first meeting, the objectives of our monthly gathering were clear:-

 

• Bring all Operators from Production to Distribution together once in a month, to solve problems, share experience and peer review.

 

• Use the opportunity to see for myself, the various power assets, the various power projects and make decisions about how to progress action on them to improve service.

 

• Create a platform for accurate information dissemination to the Nigerian public in order to reduce or dispel rumours, and misinformation .

 

And I will repeat what I have said at every meeting –

 

1. i) “This meeting is not mandatory. You don’t have to come.

 

1.  ii) If at any time you think the meeting is no longer

necessary, you have the right and indeed the duty to

say so and we will stop it. “

 

This morning we took one step forward in our quest to improve Power service by commissioning the Ikot Ekpene – Alaoji – Ugwuaji Switching Station and Transmission line; towards solving the problem of evacuating stranded power in Afam VI , Ibom Power, Calabar Power and Alaoji Power Plants.

 

 

While many Operators in the sector are making sacrifices and seeking solutions, I must express my disappointment at the conduct of DisCos under the aegis of Association of Nigerian Electricity Distribution Companies.

 

 

They issued an advertorial in the Newspapers titled, “MDA Debts Not Yet Paid “ with other headlines like “MDAs Pay Your Bills, So We Can Serve Nigerians Better.”

 

 

Let me say without any equivocation that Government will not succumb to this Blackmail, at least not the Federal Government.

 

This is blackmail for the following reasons:-

 

• From my very first tour of duty, I made it clear that

Government will pay all duly verified debts.

 

• The advert by the DisCos failed to tell members of the

public that we have been meeting to find solutions to

the debt.

 

• The advert should have told Nigerians that at our

meeting in Sokoto we provided an online platform

asking each DisCo to provide details and prove the

debts by submitting  documents.

 

(4)    The advert should have told the public

how many DisCos have submitted the documents.

 

 

(5)    The advert should also have told Nigerians how much

was owed to which DisCO.

 

(6)     It is important to remind Nigerians that privatization

exercise did not vest the DisCos in an association;

instead it was vested in 11 (Eleven) individual

companies.

 

(7)   While the Right and freedom to association is respected,

Government did not contract with an association and it

will not pay any debt“ estimated about N100 Billion” to

any association.

 

(8)    Debts are not calculated by estimation, they are a

matter of Bills, accounts and figures in Naira and Kobo.

 

(9)   The advert should also have told the Nigerian public

how many DisCos have submitted their audited

accounts for the past 3 years as Demanded by Law

and by NERC, the Regulator.

 

(10)    The advert should also inform the Nigerian public how

some of the DisCos have gone to court to frustrate

attempts by NBET to enforce your contracts to the

detriment of the Generation Companies who are

making  a huge sacrifice.

 

 

I will only add now that the responsibility for probity and accountability does not lie with only those who work in Government, it lies with everybody especially private business owners.

 

If DisCos want payment, they should prove the debt in the manner prescribed and agreed at the Sokoto meeting and communicated by email to all DisCos.

 

 

At the deadline of 4^th November 2016, no DisCo had submitted the documents and details requested; although I am told that a few have sent in some documents after the deadline to which our team have sent feedbacks.

 

 

Let me conclude by giving a piece of unsolicited advice to the DisCos; instead of spending money on blackmail adverts please use the money to provide details of your debt.

 

 

If you can’t run your business, look for people who can do so and partner with them.

 

 

Now we can proceed to the main agenda of the meeting.

 

 

 

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN

Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing