The federal government yesterday made it emphatic that power distribution companies (DisCos) will be held accountable henceforth for poor electricity supply in the country. Tough sanctions, including license revocation, await those who do not take heed, Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu threatened. He said “Moving forward, I’m committed to holding all distribution companies accountable for their performance. “Willful non-performance will not be tolerated, and severe consequences, including license revocation, may be imposed,” the minister said in a statement. Expressing concern over erratic electricity supply, Adelabu has summoned the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
Electricity supply has dipped across the country in the last three months. Many reasons, including lack of adequate gas supply, grid breakdown, low supply from Generating Companies (GenCos), the inability of DisCos to wheel supply from GenCos, and sabotage, have been adduced for the constant outage. The minister also expressed concern over the poor performance of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). Adelabu who described as “disheartening” the decline in power supply despite the concerted efforts to improve the situation noted that his Ministry has been exerting pressure on the GenCos to enhance their performance, resulting in a recent increase in generation to over 4000MW. “Despite this progress”, the minister said, “certain distribution companies are failing to adequately distribute the power supplied by TCN, while vandalism of power infrastructure exacerbates the problem in regions such as Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan.”
